PASADENA—The California Institute of Technology is pleased to announce the election of Dr. Shirley M. Malcom to its Board of Trustees.
Malcom is the director for Education and Human Resources Programs at the American Association for the Advancement of Science in Washington, D.C. As director, she is responsible for managing a number of programs aimed at advancing education in science, mathematics and technology at all levels, as well as improving public understanding of science and technology. Prior to that, she served as program head for the Office of Opportunities in Science for the association, where she worked to develop programs for minority students, and the first conference on the status of minority women in science.
In addition to serving on various advisory committees, Malcom has held several Presidential appointments, including serving as a member of the National Science Board from 1994 to 1998 and on the President's Committee of Advisors on Science and Technology since 1994.
She has also been active in efforts to improve science education and public understanding of science worldwide and to increase women's access to science and technology and their role in decision making regarding the use of science and technology in the development process. These efforts have included work with the United Nations, including its Conferences on Women, Commission on Science and Technology for Development and Gender Advisory Board.
Malcom earned her bachelor's degree in zoology from the University of Washington in 1967, and her master's degree in zoology from the University of California, Los Angeles, in 1968. She received a Ph.D. in ecology from Pennsylvania State University in 1974. In addition to eight honorary doctorates and numerous honors and awards, she is listed in "Who's Who of American Women" and "American Men and Women of Science," and is a member of Sigma Xi, the scientific research society. She has also been widely published.
Malcom resides in Clarksville, Md., with her husband, Horace. They have two adult children.
Founded in 1891, Caltech has an enrollment of some 2,000 students, and an academic staff of about 280 professorial faculty and 130 research faculty. The Institute has more than 19,000 alumni. Caltech employs a staff of more than 1,700 on campus and 5,300 at JPL.
Over the years, 27 Nobel Prizes and four Crafoord Prizes have been awarded to faculty members and alumni. Forty-four Caltech faculty members and alumni have received the National Medal of Science; and eight alumni (two of whom are also trustees), two additional trustees, and one faculty member have won the National Medal of Technology. Since 1958, 13 faculty members have received the annual California Scientist of the Year award. On the Caltech faculty there are 77 fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences; and on the faculty and Board of Trustees, 69 members of the National Academy of Sciences and 49 members of the National Academy of Engineering.
Written by Sue McHugh