LGBTQ+ Scientist Posters
LGBTQ+ scientist posters by Elvis Umaña.
File: LGBTQ-People-in-STEM-Posters-Updated.pdfLGBTQ+ Scientist Highlights
LGBTQ+ Scientists
LGBTQ+ scientist highlights by Elvis Umaña and Hrishikesh Tupkar.
File: LGBTQ-Scientists.pdfWalter Westman
Founder of the National Organization of Gay and Lesbian Scientists and Technical Professionals (1980)
Dr. Walter Westman (1945-1991) was an American ecologist and activist. Receiving his bachelor’s in botany (1966) at Swathmore College and his master’s from Macquarie University in Australia, he decided to pursue a graduate career in ecology in the United States. He completed his PhD at Cornell University under Robert Whittaker, where he studied pygmy forest ecosystems along the northwestern California coasts (1971). He held several academic appointments soon after, during which he earned international reputation for his work on biogeography, ecology, and responses to disturbance and environmental management in the Californian coastal sage ecosystems. As an openly gay man, Westman was dedicated towards advocating for LGBTQ+ rights and AIDS awareness, especially later in his academic career. He founded the National Organization of Gay and Lesbian Scientists and Technical Professionals (NOGLSTP) in 1980 during a meeting of American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). Westman was dedicated towards promoting the discussion of homophobia within the scientific workplace. Later in his life, he joined Project Inform, an advocacy group focused on empowering people with HIV and Hepatitis C. After his passing in 1991, an award was set up in his name to recognize a NOGLSTP member annually for their contributions towards the organization’s mission.
Mark Harrington
Co-founder of the Treatment Action Group and prominent activist and researcher in the field of HIV/AIDS.
Mark Harrington is a researcher and an activist in the field of HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis awareness. His passion for research stemmed from his own HIV diagnosis in 1990. As a result of the diagnosis, he took action to join the group ACT UP to foster connections with government officials for AIDS research. Further, he co-founded the Treatment Action Group to increase AIDS research progress beyond the actions of ACT UP. Through publications and activism, Harrington has cemented himself as a key researcher and policymaker in HIV/AIDS research. For all his work, he received the MacArthur Fellows Program in 1997 and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Grant in 2007.
Lauren Esposito
“Visibility is important for mental health, for standing up to injustices, and for mentoring current colleagues and future scientists.” – Lauren Esposito
Dr. Lauren Esposito is an entomologist from El Paso, Texas and one of the world’s only women scorpion experts. Her passion for studying insects and birds began from a young age, including a first-grade science project studying the Mendelian genetics of pigeon colors. With a growing interest in studying arachnids during undergrad, she earned a PhD in arachnology from the City University of NY (2011). After her graduate studies, Esposito studied scorpion genetic information and studied the use of scorpion venom in cancer research and medication. Currently at UC-Berkeley, her research revolves around the evolution of scorpion venom and distribution of scorpions in the Caribbean. Wanting to make an impact through outreach apart from research, she created the organization 500 Queer Scientists as a network of LGBTQ+ scientists worldwide. Being openly queer herself, Esposito was inspired to create the organizations after learning that over 40% of LGBTQ+ scientists in the US were not ‘out’ to their colleagues. For her work in outreach, she received the Walt Westman Award by the National Organization of Gay and Lesbian Scientists and Technical Professionals (NOGLSTP), the highest honor that the NOGLSTP awards to a member.
Martin P. Gouterman
Political activist and chemist who made significant contributions towards the field of quantum chemistry.
Dr. Martin Gouterman was an American chemist from Philadelphia and a member of the LGBTQ+ community. Due to the treatment of the LGBTQ+ community at the time, Gouterman did not feel comfortable coming out as gay until late into his career. He received both his bachelor’s and doctorate from the University of Chicago and was a faculty member at Harvard University and then the University of Washington. He performed research into the photophysical properties of porphyrins for which he developed an orbital model now named after him. Gouterman was awarded the University of Washington Minority Science and Engineering Program Faculty Excellence Award and was an Elected Fellow of the American Physical Society for his research. He was also a prominent activist for equal rights and political issues at the time, such as ending the Vietnam War and promoting Israeli-Palestinian peace.
John Pham
Editor-in-Chief of Cell journal.
John Pham was born in the Florida in the late 1970s. Pham obtained his bachelor’s degrees in biochemistry and music at Bates College before earning his Ph.D. at Northwestern. Pham completed post docs at Harvard and Bringham and Women’s Hospital. His research focused on RNA splicing and RNA interference to modify cellular protein production. In 2008, Pham joined the advisory board for Molecular Cell where he improved data transparency and archiving. In 2018, Pham became the Editor-in-Chief of Cell Journal. So far Pham has pushed to expand Cell’s coverage to immunology and genomics. Pham has also improved diversity at Cell, growing the advisory board from 20% to 50% women and reviewers from 18% to 33% women. Pham is an LGBTQ+ activist and has spoken at Elsevier Pride and WorldPride NYC.
Sally Ride
“Studying whether there’s life on Mars or studying how the universe began, there’s something magical about pushing back the frontiers of knowledge” – Sally Ride
Sally Ride was the 1st American woman in space. She was born in Los Angeles, CA in 1951. Ride was the only women majoring in physics in her undergraduate class and considers herself lucky to face minimal academic discrimination as a women. However, Sally hid her identity as a lesbian until her death in 2012. At Stanford, Sally graduated with a bachelors in physics and English and a master’s and PhD in physics. After graduating, Ride joined NASA and became the youngest astronaut at the time. In 1987, Sally became a professor at UC San Diego and director of the California Space Institute. Ride worked with UCSD to start Sally Ride Science—a company focused on providing fun scientific content to middle and high school girls. Among many awards, Ride was inducted into the National Women’s Hall of fame in 1988.
Ben Barres
“I lived life on my terms: I wanted to switch genders, and I did. I wanted to be a scientist, and I was . . . I stood up for what I believe in and I like to think I made an impact.” – Ben Barres
Dr. Barres was an openly transgender neurobiologist and department chair at Sandford. His research focused on the development and disease of glial cells and their myelin sheathes. Over his career, Dr. Barres published over 160 papers yet faced blatant sexism and discrimination. As a child, Ben was denied access to science and math courses, unable to explore his interests until attending a summer camp at Columbia University. He obtained his bachelors degree in biology at MIT, and his PhD at Dartmouth. Until transitioning in 1997, Ben faced consistent discrimination. After transitioning, Ben was a large advocate for women in science and shared his story to highlight inequality in science. In 2013, Ben was elected to the national academy of sciences for his contributions.
Jane Rigby
“When a person can be their authentic self at work, I strongly believe that they will do more brilliant, creative science.” – Jane Rigby
Dr. Jane Rigby is awarded as 2022’s LGBTQ+ Scientist of the Year by Out to Innovate. She is an astrophysicist at NASA working on the James Webb Telescope and high signal-to-noise IR spectroscopy imaging. As a high school student, Rigby was inspired by astronaut Sally Ride, the first American woman and known LGBTQ+ astronaut. Rigby pursued her bachelor’s degree in physics and astronomy at Penn State, then earned her PhD studying galactic nuclei at the University of Arizona. Throughout her career, Rigby has lacked LGBTQ+ peers and representation in the workplace. Rigby often found it difficult to feel included. Today, turning to address these issues, Rigby has co-founded a creative STEM outreach program for LGBTQ+ students and serves on the LGBT equality working group. Dr. Rigby has also been awarded the Robert H. Goddard Award for Exceptional Achievement for Science and listed as Nature 10s Ones to Watch.