Schwartz receives lifetime award from AAAS

Neena B. Schwartz

A champion of equal treatment for women in science, Neena B. Schwartz, William Deering Professor of Biological Sciences Emerita and director of the Center for Reproductive Science, has been awarded the Lifetime Mentor Award from the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).

The honor, which was established in 1990, recognizes her direct mentoring of underrepresented doctoral recipients, as well as her guidance of numerous bachelor’s and master’s level students. Schwartz’s work with the Society for the Study of Reproduction and the American Endocrine Society was also noted.

Schwartz, a leading researcher in the fields of physiology and reproductive endo-crinology for more than 50 years, will receive the award in February at the AAAS annual meeting in Denver, Colo.

She has made important contributions toward the understanding of normal reproductive processes and their abnormal counterparts in reproductive dysfunction, particularly an understanding of the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis and its control. She is the author of more than 200 publications in the area of reproductive biology.

Throughout her distinguished career, Schwartz has been committed to the training of young investigators in the reproductive sciences, many of them women. She has supervised 17 doctoral students, large numbers of postdoctoral fellows and hundreds of bachelor’s and master’s degree students. Many of her mentees are active researchers in reproductive biology. She also is a strong supporter of young faculty, at North-western and elsewhere.

“Dr. Schwartz has always been willing to advance the careers of more junior faculty, even at the cost of giving up some of her own ‘power,’” said Fred W. Turek, Charles E. and Emma H. Morrison Professor of Biology, in his nomination of Schwartz. “Her approach to mentoring has always been to put the greater good of the student above any personal agenda.”

After founding the Program for Reproductive Research in 1977, Schwartz established the Center for Reproductive Science 10 years later. The center coordinates the research and training efforts of 30 faculty from 11 different departments. Under Schwartz’s direction, the center has strong ties to undergraduate, graduate and postdoctoral training in the basic and clinical sciences.

An advocate for issues concerning women in science, Schwartz has made important contributions to national and international societies. She was the first female president of the Society for the Study of Repro-duction (SSR) and the second female president of the Endocrine Society. More than 30 years ago, Schwartz helped found the Association for Women in Science and served as its first president.