BY Melissa Gerrior
Leslie R. Sibert was named outstanding Georgia Tech alumna of the year at the Women's Leadership Conference on campus in November, and a special award was presented to 100-year-old Anne Marie Eaton, who attended the Institute's evening school in the 1940s.
In all, six women in the Tech community received Dean Gail DiSabatino Women of Distinction awards. The committee said each recipient "leads with a passion that inspires and uplifts the people around her."
Sibert, EE 85, with Georgia Power, is a YWCA board member who helped develop a pilot program in three Atlanta-area middle schools called Teen Girls and Technology, which "seeks to increase girls' confidence and competence in technology by helping young women overcome barriers and stereotypes in technology, math and science."
Sibert also is the catalyst behind a focus group at Georgia Power that is working with the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering to enhance education and recruitment opportunities for the power industry at Georgia Tech.
The outstanding faculty member is Barbara Boyan, the Price Gilbert Jr. chair in tissue engineering in the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering, the deputy director of the Georgia Tech/Emory Center and a Georgia Research Alliance eminent scholar in tissue engineering.
According to Paul Benkeser, associate chair of the School of Biomedical Engineering, Boyan "routinely champions women for positions of leadership at all levels" and promotes science and science education through participation in groups such as Leadership Texas and Leadership America. Graduating biomedical engineering students last spring awarded Boyan their faculty mentor award.
Susan Bowman, academic program manager in the School of Materials Science and Engineering, was recognized as the outstanding staff member. A two-time survivor of breast cancer, Bowman is involved in several cancer support groups both on campus and in the community.
Jacqueline O'Connor, who is studying aerospace engineering, is the outstanding graduate student. Associate professor Tim Lieuwen said when he first met O'Connor and they spoke about her long-term plans, those goals were "nothing less than she wanted to save the planet." Now O'Connor is taking strides to do just that by dedicating her career to meeting the planet's energy needs in an environmentally responsible and sustainable manner.
O'Connor, who earned her undergraduate degree at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, gives violin concerts, leads a string quartet and mentors other musicians. She is the recipient of a graduate research fellowship from the National Science Foundation.
Inn-Inn Chen, a senior majoring in biomedical engineering, was selected the outstanding undergraduate student. Assistant Dean of Students Danielle McDonald said she has "utilized her passion, commitment and dedication to become an entrepreneur, researcher and student leader." Chen was the charter president of Engineering World Health and traveled with a shipment to a San Salvador hospital.
Chen, a member of the USA Today 2007 All-USA college academic team and a Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship recipient, currently is working on collaborative projects in regenerative medicine as well as creating novel tissue engineering and stem cell therapies for clinical use.
In honor of this year's theme, the conference committee decided to present an award to a woman who embodied all the characteristics of one who truly has led a vibrant life. The award was presented to Eaton, who came to Atlanta from Germany during World War II and attended Tech's Evening School of Applied Science in 1941-42.
Eaton, Tech's oldest living alumna, earned a master's degree in sociology at Georgia State University when she was 70 years old. She also was a member of the Society of Women Engineers at Georgia Tech while her husband, Paul T. Eaton, was a professor emeritus. She has worked as a commercial artist and designer and a methods analyst and is currently a social gerontologist. She is the co-founder of Life Enrichment Services Inc. for people over age 50.
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