Herstory in the Making

03/08/2021

Women have powered UMass Lowell since its founding in 1894, when they entered the Lowell Normal School as aspiring teachers for public schools and were taught by pioneering women faculty. As the university expanded over the next 125 years, women’s roles did, too.

Now, under the leadership of Jacquie Moloney, UMass Lowell’s first woman chancellor, women continue to advance across the university community. In honor of Women’s History Month, we’re highlighting some of our brightest and bluest River Hawks.

Amazing Alumnae Exemplify River Hawk Spirit

Throughout the generations, UMass Lowell has graduated amazing women who have made an impact on the world and on their communities.

See more amazing alumni

These Young Women have Just Begun their Journeys

Benedicta Agyemang-Brantuo

Chemistry

Benedicta Agyemang-Brantuo won the 2021 MLK Service Award for starting a club to address health disparities – amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Shanice Kelly

Physics and Mechanical Engineering

Shanice Kelly is a leader in multiple campus clubs because she wants to get more students of color involved in STEM, especially space science programs.
Brigid Archibald

English

Brigid Archibald always wanted to be a superhero. Now the editor of the student newspaper, The Connector, she sees journalists as today’s heroes.
Dannalee Watson

Medical Laboratory Science

Dannalee Watson loves working in hospital labs, where she analyzes patient samples for signs of disease. She says it’s like being a medical detective.
Madison Reed

Plastics Engineering

Madison Reed works as a research assistant with Plastics Engineering Prof. Ramaswamy Nagarajan in the UML Fabric Discovery Center.
Debby Fernand

Psychology, Sociology and Race and Ethnic Studies

Debby Fernand says the River Hawk Scholars Academy has introduced her to friends and faculty mentors – and turned her into a leader herself.

UMass Lowell Looks to Balance the Scales

Center for Women & Work

The UMass Lowell Center for Women and Work is a community of scholars who are dedicated to advancing knowledge about the relationship between gender and work through research, enhancing understanding of this relationship through education and training, and challenging inequalities through institutional change.

Visit Center for Women & Work

Making WAVES: Women Academics Valued and Engaged in STEM

Making WAVES is an initiative to increase diversity of faculty in STEM fields funded by the National Science Foundation ADVANCE Program. The $3.5 million, five-year grant allows researchers to advance the study of gender bias in the workplace.

Learn about Making WAVES

Mentor points out something to two young women working on project

Research, Academics and Mentoring Pathways (RAMP)

Piloted in 2018, Research, Academics and Mentoring Pathways (RAMP), is a 6-week summer program that provides support to women entering the Francis College of Engineering with coursework, project work, mentoring, and networking with local companies and alumni.

Learn about RAMP

UMass Lowell Chancellor Jaqueline Moloney

Meet Chancellor Jacquie Moloney

For four consecutive years, UMass Lowell has been the highest-ranked educational institution among the Top 100 Women-Led Businesses in Massachusetts, according to The Commonwealth Institute and Boston Globe Magazine. Jacquie Moloney, the chancellor of UMass Lowell, is a national leader in innovation in higher education. Appointed by a unanimous vote of the UMass Board of Trustees in 2015, she is the first woman to lead the university since its founding in 1894. Learn more about Chancellor Moloney.

Women's History Month highlights the contributions of women to events in history and contemporary society. It is celebrated during March in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia, corresponding with International Women's Day on March 8.

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