May 28, 1997 Contact Office of Communication (541) 346-3132 Editor's Note: The individuals mentioned below can be contacted at the following numbers: Teha Kordich, (541) 747-9972; Molly McCanta, (541) 345-6663; Crystal Gross, (541) 344-5818; program mentor Katherine Cashman, (541) 346-4323; UO Graduate School dean Steadman Upham, (541) 346-3081. EUGENE--Teha Kordich is headed to the prestigious Yale University physics department. Crystal Gross had four offers of graduate school admission with "full-ride" scholarships. Molly McCanta turned down an acceptance from Harvard. All three June grads are participants in the University of Oregon's Women in Physical Sciences Program. Three years ago the program began assisting promising women science undergraduates. Its goal is to help more women succeed in their undergraduate science studies at the UO, in gaining admission to doctoral programs and, in time, in adding to the number of women with advanced degrees in the sciences. The competitive program is designed for junior and senior women studying in the physical sciences who have at least a 3.25 grade point average. The four or five recipients selected each year receive a tuition waiver and are paired with a mentoring professor--whenever possible, a woman. This year's three graduates from the program have not only achieved remarkable undergraduate success but they have been accepted into the nation's top graduate schools. Teha Kordich, who majored in mathematics and physics, is headed for five or six years of graduate study at Yale University where she will explore the quantum nature of atoms. Kordich says the UO program encouraged her and exposed her to successful women scientists. "I know it was helpful for my application to grad school to be recognized as a woman in the sciences," she says. "My application to Yale wouldn't have been as strong without it." Kordich says there is no similar program of support for women in the sciences at Yale. "So when I get there I am hoping to start a group for female grad students in the sciences," she says. Geology major Molly McCanta turned down full-tuition scholarships to Harvard University and the University of Minnesota to accept a similar offer from Brown University. McCanta says her mentor, UO vulcanologist Katherine Cashman, was especially helpful in critiquing her application essays as well as sharing experiences about being a woman in the physical sciences. "It was valuable as a woman to hear what another woman went through. It was interesting to hear what hurdles have been overcome that will allow me to follow my aspirations today." Crystal Gross is heading for the University of Massachusetts at Amherst to continue her studies of computer science. She will receive a full-tuition scholarship as well as a research assistantship. In her career at the UO, Crystal has helped teach introductory courses in computer science, designed web pages and earned a prestigious summer internship. "At Amherst I will follow my interests in [computer] architecture and distributed systems," she says. As for her career plans, Crystal is open. "There are so many possibilities; I haven't really settled on any one thing yet," she says. The Women in Physical Sciences Program is funded by the UO Graduate School. Dean Steadman Upham initiated the program while serving as president of the National Physical Sciences Consortium which compiled data highlighting the relatively small numbers of women in the physical sciences. "We want to send out the message loud and clear that the University of Oregon encourages women to enter and to persevere in the physical sciences. This program is one manifestation of that support," he says. -30- #F-7254/Local,OrDailies,OrSci