Gabilan Distinguished Professorship in Science and Engineering

Deadline: March 20 (In the event that a deadline falls upon a weekend or a university holiday, that deadline will move to the first workday following the posted date.)

Goal: To increase the representation of women in science and engineering and foster a community where faculty and students can thrive by recognizing outstanding mid-career/senior (tenured) faculty who will also make significant contributions to the Women in Science and Engineering (WiSE) Program goals.

Eligibility: The Gabilan Distinguished Professorship in Science and Engineering will be awarded for a period of three years to an outstanding mid-career/senior (tenured) faculty with a primary appointment in WiSE-eligible departments who also contributes significantly to WiSE affairs. The holder of the Gabilan Distinguished Professorship in Science and Engineering is expected to have made contributions, for example, to the mentoring of junior female faculty, students, and postdoctoral scholars. With the help of the WiSE funds, it is expected that the WiSE activities will enhance the research program of the Professorship holder.

As with all WiSE support, the WiSE contribution will be used to embellish and augment existing research funds. $20,000/year for a maximum of 3 years will be allocated to the Professorship holder’s research fund. These funds are discretionary but will not be used to pay a regular academic-year salary.

Selection Process and Criteria: Nominations should include the following three documents:

  1. Statement of scientific contributions – provide objective evidence of national and international stature
  2. Statement of WiSE-related contributions – briefly summarize the nominee’s special contributions to the WiSE community
  3. Individual’s CV – if the information is available without contacting the nominee

Faculty will send their nominations by confidential memo to the Dean of their respective school. The Dean will forward all nominations to the WiSE Director, with a memo containing the Deans’ recommendations and (optional) rank ordering. A committee of senior faculty from the Viterbi School of Engineering, the Dana and David Dornsife College of Letters, Arts, and Sciences, and the WiSE Advisory Board will make the recommendations, which will be forwarded to the Provost for approval. Upon approval, selected nominees (and corresponding Department Chairs and Deans) will be notified.

Current and Past Award Recipients

  • Greta Panova, Department of Mathematics (2023-2026)
  • Sami Assaf, Department of Mathematics (2023-2026)
  • Malancha Gupta, Mork Family Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science (2020-2023)
  • Gary Rosen, Department of Mathematics (2020-2023)
  • Amy Childress, Sonny Astani Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (2019-2022)
  • Suzanne Edmands, Department of Biological Sciences (2018-2021)
  • Michelle Povinelli, Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering (2018-2021)
  • Judith Hirsch, Department of Biological Sciences (2017-2020)
  • Susan Montgomery, Department of Mathematics (2017-2020)
  • Lorraine Turcotte, Department of Biological Sciences (2017-2020)
  • Susan Forsburg, Department of Biological Sciences (2016-2019)
  • Anna Krylov, Department of Chemistry (2016-2019)
  • Jill McNitt-Gray, Department of Biological Sciences (2016-2019)
  • Ellis Meng, Department of Biomedical Engineering (2016-2019)