Women in Science: What Is Still in the Way?

Melissa Begg became the 18th Dean of Columbia School of Social Work on September 1, 2019. She is a professor of social work and biostatistics. Dean Begg is an accomplished scholar, committed educator, and creative administrative leader. Her work has focused on convening interdisciplinary teams, developing innovative curricula, creating mentorship programs, and enhancing diversity in graduate education and the research workforce. She is deeply committed to the School’s social justice mission and the pursuit of better science for a better society.

Wafaa El-Sadr is the founder and director of ICAP at Columbia University, University Professor of Epidemiology and Medicine and Mathilde Krim-amfAR Professor of Global Health at Columbia University. ICAP, the Center she founded and directs, supports large-scale health programs around the world that integrate research, education, training and program design, implementation, scale-up and evaluation. ICAP works in more than 30 countries around the world with a focus on confronting major public health challenges including HIV, tuberculosis, malaria, maternal and child health, non-communicable diseases and most recently for COVID-19.
Dr. El-Sadr received her medical degree from Cairo University, masters in public health (Epidemiology) from Columbia Mailman School of Public Health and masters in public administration from the Harvard University Kennedy School of Government. She was named a McArthur fellow in 2008, is a member of the National Academy of Medicine and a fellow of the African Academy of Sciences.

Michelle A. Williams, SM ’88, ScD ’91, is Dean of the Faculty, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, and Angelopoulos Professor in Public Health and International Development, a joint faculty appointment at the Harvard Chan School and Harvard Kennedy School. She is an internationally renowned epidemiologist and public health scientist, an award-winning educator, and a widely recognized academic leader. Prior to becoming Dean, she was Professor and Chair of the Department of Epidemiology at the Harvard Chan School and Program Leader of the Population Health and Health Disparities Research Programs at Harvard’s Clinical and Translational Sciences Center. Dean Williams previously had a distinguished career at the University of Washington School of Public Health. Her scientific work places special emphasis in the areas of reproductive, perinatal, pediatric, and molecular epidemiology. Dean Williams has published over 450 scientific articles. She was elected to the National Academy of Medicine in 2016. The Dean has a master’s in civil engineering from Tufts University and master’s and doctoral degrees in epidemiology from the Harvard Chan School.