Aiming to reach Middle Tennessee State University women in the sciences, the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry, or IUPAC, Global Women’s Breakfast will be held Tuesday, Feb. 27, in Classroom 149 in Smith Hall, 318 Old Main Circle.

Held in conjunction with the U.N. Day of Women and Girls in Science, the goal of the Global Women’s Breakfast series is to establish an active network of people of all genders to overcome the barriers to gender equality in science, said Judith Iriarte-Gross, an MTSU chemistry professor and director of the MTSU Women in STEM (WISTEM) Center.

Iriarte-Gross and Amy Korstange, associate director in MTSU Housing and Residential Life, are reaching out to the MTSU living-learning communities and MTSU women in the sciences to attend the free event, which begins at 8 a.m. and carries the theme of “Catalyzing Diversity in Science.”

Ann Nalley of Lawton, Oklahoma, Cameron University professor and former American Chemical Society president, will speak on “The Magnificent Journey: Challenges and Opportunities” remotely on Zoom at 9 a.m.

Born to cotton farmers in the 1940s and overcoming many obstacles to be successful in her career, Nalley was the 2019 MTSU Chemistry Department “Golden Goggles” award recipient and has received many awards in a distinguished career.

“Hopefully, her talk will inspire women to follow her footprints in a journey that reached many corners of the world,” Iriarte-Gross said. 

The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry has more that 1,500 events happening worldwide on the U.N. Day of Women and Girls in Science.

The breakfast is sponsored by the WISTEM Center, MTSU Living-Learning Communities, Nashville Local Section of the American Chemical Society and MTSU Housing and Residential Life.

For more information, call 615-904-8253 or email Judith.Iriarte-Gross@mtsu.edu.

— Randy Weiler (Randy.Weiler@mtsu.edu)