January 27, 2003

The Honorable Rod Paige
Secretary of Education
U. S. Department of Education
FB6, Room 7W301
400 Maryland Avenue, SW
Washington, DC 20202

Dear Secretary Paige:

We are writing as a group of scientists, mathematicians, and engineers concerned by the persistent under-representation of women in the important fields of math, engineering and the hard sciences. Now more than ever, our nation will rely upon the expertise of our professions to ensure our nation’s security and economic prosperity. Unfortunately, we cannot meet these goals so long as the talent of one-half of our population is not being fully utilized in these fields. Statistics indicate that women are grossly under-represented in the fields of science, math, and engineering. The National Science Foundation reports that in 1999, women made up only 23 percent of physical scientists and 10 percent of engineers. The number of women on our nation’s faculties is even lower: only 14 percent of our nation’s science faculties are women and only 6 percent of our nation’s engineering faculties are women. Significantly, the National Science Foundation found that the number of women graduating with bachelor’s degrees in computer and information sciences, which reached a high of 37 percent in 1984, dropped to 28 percent in the 1999 school year.

As Secretary of Education, you have been entrusted with the authority to oversee the implementation of Title IX of the Educational Amendments of 1972 (“Title IX”) in our nation’s classrooms. Title IX prohibits sex discrimination in all aspects of federally funded education programs and has brought about great changes for women in American higher education institutions. As a result of Title IX, girls and women flocked to sports in unprecedented numbers, and high schools and colleges formed tens of thousands of teams to accommodate them. Before Title IX, one in 17 high school girls played team sports - now it is one in 2.5. While Title IX is best known for opening the doors of opportunity for women and girls in athletics, it is not limited to athletics. Title IX applies to “any education program or activity receiving federal financial assistance.” Accordingly, Title IX applies to science education in our nation’s high schools and higher educational institutions

The Office of Civil Rights within the Department of Education has the mandate to enforce Title IX. We implore you to make certain that the disparities we see in the numbers of women and men in our nation’s institutions of science education are not the result of violations of Title IX law.

Respectfully submitted,

David James
Chair
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Deborah Niemier
Professor and Department Chair
Chancellor’s Fellow
Department of Civil and Environmental. Engineering
University of California, Davis

Dr. Laura L. Sullivan
Department of Mechanical Engineering
Kettering University
Flint, Michigan

Katherine F. Knowlton
Assistant Professor
Department of Dairy Science
Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University

Nancy G. Love
Associate Professor
Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering
Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University

Tonya L. SMassachusetts Institute of Technologyh-Jackson, Ph. D
Assistant Professor of Human Factors Engineering
Director: Assessment & Cognitive Ergonomics Lab
Department of Industrial & Systems Engineering
Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University

Kate Wilkes
Mechanical Engineering Co-op Student
Seimens Dematic Corporation
Kettering University

W. Sue Shafer, Ph. D
Deputy Director
Institute for Quantitative Biomedical Research
University of California, San Francisco

Joe R. Cowles
Professor of Biology
Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University

Karen M. Hult
Professor of Mathematics
Slippery Rock University

Dr. Elise Grabner
Associate Professor of Mathematics
Slippery Rock University

Laura Link, MT (ASCP)
Microbiology Laboratory Coordination
Advisor, Clinical Laboratory Sciences
Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University

Dr. Sarah Douglas
Human-Computer Interaction Lab
Computer & Information Science Department
University of Oregon

Britt A. Holmen
Assistant Professor
Department of Engineering
University of Connecticut

You-Lo Hsieh
Professor of Fiber & Polymer Science
University of California, Davis

Cleta Sue Bailey, DVD, PhD, DACVIM-Neurology
Professor Emeritus
Department of Surgical & Radiological Sciences
School of Veterinary Medicine
University of California, Davis

S. Dru Forrester, DVM, MS, Diplomate ACVIM (Small Animal Internal Medicine)
Professor & Section Chief of Small Animal Internal Medicine
Department of Clinical Sciences
Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine
Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University

Mary B. Kennedy
Alan and Lenabelle Davis Professor of Biology
California Institute of Technology

Carole L. Horn
Academic Coordinator
RTG, Nonlinear Dynamics in Biology
Center for Population Biology
University of California, Davis

Erin Schuman
Associate Professor
California Institute of Technology

Carolyn F. Wall
Senior Lecturer Emerita
Vice Chancellor-Student Affairs Emerita
University of California, Davis

Gyongy Laky
Professor
Department of Environmental Design
University of California, Davis

Shobha K. Bhatia
Professor & Chair
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Syracuse University

Karen A. Thole
Associate Professor
Mechanical Engineering Department
Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University

Michelle Zirngibl
Student
General Motors Corporation
Society of Women Engineers - Member

Catherine Constable
Professor of Geophysics
Cecil H & Ida M Green Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics
Scripps Institution of Oceanography
University of California, San Diego

Sheila Jaswal, PhD
Post Doctoral Scholar
Department Of Molecular Biophysics ans Biochemistry
Yale University

Diane Lambert
Director of Statistics Research and Bell Labs Fellow
Bell Labs, Lucent Technology

Lynda M. McDowell, PhD
Research Assistant Professor
Department of Chemistry
Washington University

Summer Alynn Putnam
Mechanical Engineer
General Assembly Engineering: Fastening Engineer
General Motors Corporation, North America

Sitaram Jaswal
Professor of Physics
University of Nebraska

Linda L. Gallo, PhD
Professor of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
George Washington University

Felicia Etzkorn
Associate Professor of Chemistry
Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University

Rachelle S. Heller
Professor of Computer Science
The George Washington University

Dr. Eve Darian-Smith
Chair, Law and Society Program
University of California, Santa Barbara

Harry W Green, II
Distinguished Professor of Geology and Geophysics
University of California, Riverside

Kristi R.G. Hendrickson
Professor of Physics
University of Puget Sound

Professor Nancy M. Tooney
Associate Dean of Engineering and Applied Sciences
Polytechnic University, Brooklyn, New York

Bin Yu
Professor of Statistics
University of California, Berkeley

Kimerly J. Wilcox, PhD
Senior Instructional Multimedia Consultant & Consultation Coordinator
Digital Media Center
University of Minnesota

Manuela Martins-Green
Associate Professor of Cell Biology
University of California, Riverside

Ellen Daniell, Ph. D.
Chemistry

Professor Nicole S. Sampson
Department of Chemistry
State University of New York, Stony Brook

Professor Lynne Osman Elkin
Professor of Biological Sciences
California State University at Hayward

Elizabeth S. Boylan
Provost and Dean of Faculty
Barnard College

Dr. Katherine C. Harkay
Physicist
Argonne National Laboratory

Dr. Caroline L. Herzenberg
Consulting Physicist
ICF Inc. (retired from Argonne National Laboratory)

Dr. M. Elizabeth Derrick
Professor of Chemistry
Valdosta State University (on leave at Georgia Institute of Technology for 2003)

Mary Egbula
Student, Howard University.
Washington Wire Coordinator
Association of Women in Science

Dong-Er Zhang
Associate Professor
The Scripps Research Institute

Martha H. Redi, PhD
Principal Research Physicist
Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory
Princeton University.

Margaret Murnane
Professor
University of Colorado

Patricia M. Clancy
Associate Professor
Department of Linguistics
University of California, Santa Barbara

Carla Slebodnick, PhD
Department of Chemistry
Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University

Dr. Kelly A. Bidle
Assistant Professor
Department of Biology
Rider University

Brenda J. Buck, PhD
Department of Geoscience
University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Nira Pollock, M.D., PhD
Brigham and Women’s Hospital
Boston, Massachusetts

Ana Tari, PhD
Assistant Professor
Dept of Bioimmunotherapy
UT MD Anderson Cancer Center

E. F. Benfield
Professor of Ecology
Department of Biology
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

Theresa P. Pretlow, PhD
Professor of Pathology and Oncology
Institute of Pathology
Case Western Reserve University.

Dr. Patricia Redden
Chemistry Department
St. Peter’s College

Debra Sharpe, MPH
Co-Director, S&EH
Auburn University.

Amy Gibbs
Co-op Student
General Motors Corporation

Sydney Kustu
Professor of Plant & Microbial Biology
University of California, Berkeley

Margaret M Briehl, PhD
Assistant Professor of Pathology
University of Arizona

Mary Frank Fox
NSF Advance Professor of Sociology
Co-Director, Center for Study of Women, Science, & Technology
Georgia Institute of Biology

Lynn Adler
Assistant Professor
Department of Biology
Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University

Maria V. Papadopoulou, Ph.D.
Senior Research Scientist
Evanston Northwestern Healthcare
Research Associate Professor
Northwestern University Medical School

Mary Ann Jordan
Adjunct Professor & Research Biologist
University of California, Santa Barbara

Suzanne Kayser
Mechanical Engineering Student
Kettering University
General Motors Corporation Co-op

Karen C. Arden, PhD
Head, Section for Molecular Cytogenetics
Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research
Associate Professor
University of California, San Diego School of Medicine

Renae Frigo
Naturalist/Environmental Educator
St. Charles Park District

Paula Turner
Associate Professor of Physics
Kenyon College

Dr. Kelly Simmons Potter
Physicist
Principal Member of Technical Staff
Sandia National Laboratory

James P. Cohoon
Associate Professor of Computer Science
University of Virginia

Eli Pearce
2002 President of the American Chemical Society

Stephan C. Johnson
Physicist
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory

Elaine Schnirman Lessner
Physicist
Argonne National Laboratory

Dr. Vidhya Ramachandran
Staff Engineer
Si-Ge Technology Development
IBM Microelectronics Division

Shang Fen Ren
Associate Professor of Physics
Illinois State University

Jennifer Sheridan , PhD
Assistant Scientist
University of Wisconsin-Madison

Dolores Montano
Computer Scientist
Los Alamos National Laboratory

Martha E. Miller
Scientific Assistant
Argonne National Laboratory

Nely Trintinella Padial-Collins, PhD
Group T3, Fluid dynamics
Los Alamos National Laboratory

Dr Brenda P. Winnewisser
Adjunct Professor
Department of Physics
Ohio State University

Marianne Ferguson
Water Systems Engineer
Spallation Neutron Source Project
Oak Ridge National Laboratory

Mary F. Singleton
Chemist
(retired from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory)
National Women Chemists Committee
American Chemical Society

Prof. Marie A. Vitulli.
Department of Mathematics
University of Oregon

Alice Bean
Associate Professor of Physics
University of Kansas

Henry C. Kapteyn
Professor
University of Colorado

Vera Rubin
1993 Recipient- National Medal of Science
Department of Terrestrial Magnetism
Carnegie Institution of Washington

Dr. Diedre Hunter
Astronomer with Tenure
Lowell Observatory

Sherry Yennello
Professor of Chemistry
Cyclotron Institute
Texas A&M University

Emily Townsend
Graduate Student
Department of Physics
Oregon State University

Christine Maric, PhD, F.A.H.A.
Assistant Professor
Department of Medicine
Division of Nephrology and Hypertension
Georgetown University Medical Center

Yang Shoa-Horn
Atlantic Richfield Career Development Professorship
Department of Mechanical Engineering
Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Heather Letchman
Professor of Archaeology & Ancient Technology
Department of Materials Science and Engineering
Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Lorna Gibson
Matoula S. Salapatas Professor of Materials Science & Engineering
Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Robert Williams
Distinguished Research Scholar
Space Telescope Science Institute

Megan Donahue
Associate Astronomer
Space Telescope Science Institute
Baltimore, MD

Alice Silverberg
Professor of Mathematics
Ohio State University

Richard E White
Professor Emeritus of Astronomy
Smith College

Mordecai-Mark Mac Low
Associate Curator
Department of Astrophysics
American Museum of Natural History

Dr. Joanna Thomas-Osip
Postdoctoral Associate
Department of Earth, Atmospheric, Planetary Sciences
Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Karen K. Gleason
Professor & Executive Officer of Chemical Engineering
Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Barbara Lazarus
Associate Provost
Carnegie Mellon University

Simona Socrate
d’Arbeloff Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering
Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Berin Engleward
Assistant Professor of Biological Engineering
Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Mini Varughese, PhD
Medical Student
State University of New York, Stony Brook

Dr. Anita L. Cohran
Senior Research Scientist
McDonald Observatory
University of Texas, Austin

Andrea Schweitzer, PhD
Senior Research Scientist
Southwest Research Institute
Volunteer Director of Teacher Training Programs
The Little Thompson Observatory

Donna Weistrop
Professor
Physics Department
University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Elizabeth Simmons
Associate Professor of Physics
Boston University

Elizabeth McCormack
Associate Professor and Chair
Physics Department
Bryn Mawr College

Dr. Elizabeth K. Holmes
National Research Council

Martha L. Gray
Edward Hood Taplin Professor of Medical Engineering and Electrical Engineering
The Harvard-Massachusetts Institute of Technology Division of Health, Science, and Technology

Sabine Jeschonnek
Assistant Professor of Physics
Ohio State University– Lima Campus

Janette R. Frigo
Senior Electrical Engineer
Group-NIS-3
Los Alamos National Laboratory

Robert Nowak
Associate Professor
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Rice University

Nita J. Maihle, PhD

Dr. Savitri V. Iyer
Assistant Professor
Department of Physics and Astronomy
State University of New York, Geneseo

Dr. Tracy L. Smith
Research Associate
Space Science Institute

Lynda M. McDowell, PhD
Research Assistant Professor
Department of Chemistry
Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri

Heidi Nepf
Associate Professor
Civil and Environmental Engineering
Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Catherine Didion
Executive Director, Association of Women in Science

Jill Sideman
President, Association of Women in Science

Linda Mandel
Past President, Association of Women in Science

Carol A Gross
University of California, San Francisco

Sandra Laursen, Ph.D.
Research Associate
University of Colorado, Boulder

Dr. Judith S. Young
Professor
Department of Astronomy
University of Massachusetts–Amherst

Lucy Y. Pao
Associate Professor
Electrical & Chemical Engineering Department
University of Colorado

Ann Miller
Masters in Philosophy in Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry
Ph.D. Candidate, Yale University

George Avrunin
Professor and Associate Head
Department of Mathematics & Statistics
University of Massachusetts, Amherst

Susanne Lohmann
Professor of Political Science
University of California, Los Angeles

Janice Emily Cuny
Computer and Information Science
University of Oregon
Vice Chair–Computing Research Association

Janet G. Hering, Ph.D.
Professor of Environmental Science and Engineering
California Institute of Technology

Susan Bryant, Ph.D.
Professor of Developmental and Cell Biology
Dean of Biological Sciences
University of California, Irvine

C. Peter Lillya
Emertius Professor of Chemistry
University of Massachusetts, Amherst

Marianne Bronner-Fraser
Professor of Biology
California Institute of Technology

April S. Brown
Professor and Chair
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Pratt School of Engineering
Duke University
Carlene Moore Ellis
Vice President
Diversity and Education
Intel Corporation

Christine Cunningham
Director, Engineering Education and Research
Tufts University

Mary R. Anderson-Rowland
Associate Dean
College of Engineering and Applied Sciences
Arizona State University

Adrienne Lavine
Professor
Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
University of California, Los Angeles

Karl S. Pister
Professor Emeritus
University of California, Berkeley
Chancellor Emeritus
University of California, Santa Cruz

Vijay Dhiv
Professor
Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
University of California, Los Angeles

James H. Garrett, Jr.,
Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Associate Dean of Engineering
Carnegie Mellon

Cristina Amon
Professor of Mechanical Engineering
Director, ICES
Carnegie Mellon

Patricia Laughlin
Associate Dean
College of Engineering
Carnegie Mellon

Mary Jane Irvin
Distinguished Professor of Computer Science and Engineering
The Pennsylvania State University

Judith A. Todd
P.B. Breneman Department Head Chair and Professor of Engineering Science & Mechanics
The Pennsylvania State University

Diane L. Souvaine
Professor and Chair
Department of Computer Science
Tufts University

Levi Thompson
Professor & Associate Dean
College of Engineering
University of Michigan

Leslie Collins
Associate Professor
Department of Electrical Engineering
Duke University

Lisa Huettell
Assistant Professor
Department of Electrical Engineering
Duke University

Stella Pang
Professor and Associate Dean
Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
University of Michigan

Cinda Davis
Director, WISE Program
University of Michigan

Stephan W. Director
Dean of Engineering
University of Michigan

Ilene Busch- Vishniac
Dean, Whiting School of Engineering
Johns Hopkins University

Janie Fouke
Dean of Engineering
Michigan State University

Denice Denton
Dean of Engineering
University of Washington

Patricia F. Mead
Senior Program Officer
National Academy of Engineering

Deborah L. Grubbe, P.E.
Corporate Director
DuPont

Phyllis Buchanan
Manager
DuPont

Jane Daniels
Director Emerita
Purdue University
Program Directory - Henry Luce Foundation

Susan Metz
Executive Director
Women in Engineering and Science Center
Stevens Institute of Technology

Wayne C. Johnston
Executive Director
University Relations - Worldwide
Hewlett-Packard

Eve Riskin
Professor of Electrical Engineering
University of Washington

David Notkin
Professor and Chair, Computer Science and Engineering
University of Washington

Peter Crouch
Dean of Engineering
Arizona State University

Sandra Houston
Chair, Civil and Environmental Engineering
Arizona State University

Jeff R. Wright
Dean of Engineering
University of California, Merced

Jane Ammons
NSF Advance Professor of Engineering
Georgia Institute of Technology

Don P. Giddens
Dean of Engineering
Georgia Institute of Technology

Mahera “Mimi” Philobos
Director, Women in Engineering
Georgia Institute of Technology

Sue V. Rosser
Dean of Ivan Allen College
Georgia Institute of Technology

Pramod P. Khargonekar
Dean of Engineering
University of Florida

Kerry Kinney
Associate Professor
Civil Engineering
University of Texas, Austin

John F. Rabolt
Professor and Chair
Materials Science
University of Delaware

Telle Whitney
President & C.E.O.
Institute for Women and Technology
Jeffrey P. Jarosz
Research Assistant to Dean
School of Engineering
Johns Hopkins University

Margaret Martonosi
Associate Professor
Department of Electrical Engineering
Princeton University

Catherine A. Peters
Associate Professor
Princeton University

Thomas F. Wolff, Ph.D., P.E.
Associate Dean of Engineering
Michigan State University

Satish Udpa
Professor & Chair
Electrical and Computer Engineering
Michigan State University

Susan J. Masten
Professor
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Michigan State University

Beth M. Holloway
Director
Women in Engineering
Purdue University

Thomas J. Price
Executive Director
American Association of Engineering Societies

Tricia Berry
Director
Women in Engineering Program
University of Texas, Austin

Leigh R. Abts
Associate Director
Education and Outreach
Johns Hopkins University

Charles Fleddermann
Associate Dean
School of Engineering
University of New Mexico

Neal L. Armstrong
Associate Dean for Academic Affairs
College of Engineering
University of Texas, Austin

Doris Raoman
Arizona State University

Susan M. Larson
Director
Women in Engineering Program
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Meredith T. Knight
Research Associate
Center for Engineering Educational Outreach
Tufts University

Barbara A. Ruel
Director
Women in Engineering Programs
Rensyllear Polytechnic Institute

L. P. Ioannidas
Professor of Mathematics
University of Delaware

Professor Linda Gallo, Ph.D.
Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
The George Washington Health Sciences Center

Barbara Pioro
Computer Science
North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University
Eleanor L. Babco
Executive Director
Commission on Professionals in Science & Technology