Women in Science and the New Administration

In today's, January 20, 2009, New York Times, Natalie Angier writes on "In 'Geek Chic' and Obama, New Hope for Lifing Women in Science," which is on target. As someone who has degrees in Applied Mathematics, with a concentration in Operations Research, a subject which focuses on the "science of decision-making," it is clear that math and analytics underly all science. What has been missing from the discussion, however, is that problem-solving is something that women have been engaged with since time began. Science and math involve problem-solving and there is nothing like the "aha" moment when the theory works and the solution can be implemented. Our new President, Barack Obama, will be engaged in problem-solving on a continuing basis and will be elucidating his solutions to the masses. The more perspectives that he (and we) have to solve our problems, from the scientific to the simply intuitive ones, the better will we all be in creating an inclusive society with infrastructure that works, education that thrills and illuminates, and healthcare that operates as it should.