About Women & Science

For more than 25 years, Women & Science has supported women researchers by highlighting their many significant contributions, underscoring the importance of basic science, and encouraging more women to make scientific research a philanthropic priority. Donors to the Women & Science Partners in Discovery Fund have helped to provide research and educational opportunities for Rockefeller’s women scientists at all levels.

To date, Women & Science Partners in Discovery have generously provided more than $55 million to support research and education at the university.

Dedication to Mentorship: Women & Science Fellowships

More than 270 women Ph.D. students and postdoctoral researchers have received Women & Science fellowships. Recipients of these prestigious fellowships have gone on to careers in academia, technology, government, education, medicine, and more.

Striving for Gender Parity: The Fund to Recruit Women Faculty

In the last ten years, the university has hired seven women heads of lab through the support of the Women & Science Fund to Recruit Women Faculty. This outstanding cohort attracts the best and brightest students and postdocs from around the world.
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Harnessing the Power of Translational Research

The Anna-Maria and Stephen Kellen Women’s Entrepreneurship Fund (Kellen WEF) is an innovative program, established to encourage more university women scientists to develop the translational and entrepreneurial potential of their research. The Kellen WEF is providing the tools—including training, mentorship, and grants—to help women scientists move their discoveries towards clinical application.
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Promoting Women Leaders at the University

The Women & Science Committee is a pipeline to the university’s Board of Trustees and The Rockefeller University Council, thereby broadening the role of women in the governance and leadership of the university. The number of women trustees has tripled since the initiative was founded, and women now constitute 48 percent of the Board.

Sponsoring Lectures on Topics Related to Women’s Health

Women & Science offers many presentations on topics related to women’s health, including heart disease, cancer, neural health and disease, precision medicine, the microbiome, and stem cells and regenerative medicine. These programs highlight women researchers whose work is shaping our understanding of health and biology.
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Recognizing Outstanding Women in Biomedical Research

The Pearl Meister Greengard Prize, awarded annually by the university, was established by the late Dr. Paul Greengard, who served as the university’s Vincent Astor Professor, and his wife, the sculptor Ursula von Rydingsvard. Named in memory of Dr. Greengard’s mother who died giving birth to him, the Pearl Meister Greengard Prize recognizes the accomplishments of women in biomedical science.
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Women & Science Portrait of Discovery

In 2022, the university unveiled a large-scale portrait featuring Drs. Florence Sabin, Louise Pearce, Rebecca Lancefield, Gertrude Perlmann, and Marie Daly (left to right), researchers who held significant tenures at Rockefeller or went on to have distinguished careers at other institutions after training at the university. Brooklyn-based painter Brenda Zlamany was commissioned to create this groundbreaking portrait—the university’s first depicting women scientists. This important portrait was made possible by generous donors to the project.
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Supporting the Child and Family Center

The Child and Family Center (CFC) offers on-campus childcare to university researchers at what is often a pivotal point in a scientist’s career—when family needs compete with the demands of the laboratory. To accommodate more children, Women & Science raised funds to enable a much-needed expansion of the CFC in 2016.
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Bulgari: Partnering for Excellence

Bulgari, the luxury fashion house, has provided generous funding to establish fellowships and research funds for women who are conducting innovative research to identify new treatments and a cure for COVID-19.
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