Sadly, in the past month, WISELI has lost two of the original members of our Leadership Team. Dr. Lillian Tong died on January 16th, 2022. While at UW-Madison, Lil worked with the Center for Biology Education. As a member of the WISELI Leadership Team, she was a strong advocate for academic staff women in STEMM on our campus, always urging WISELI to consider the diversity of academic staff in STEM through our work. Dr. Bernice Durand died on February 7th, 2022. A professor of Physics, Bernice delivered one of WISELI’s very first workshops for faculty hiring committees, and as the inaugural “chief diversity officer” of the university, was a strong proponent of ensuring that all members of faculty search committees participate in these workshops.
We are grateful for all that these two enthusiastic, tireless advocates for diversity in STEMM have done for WISELI, our campus, and for the betterment of science in our country.