OWU Timescapes
OWU Women in Science
Women studying science at Ohio Wesleyan have a strong and proud history, from research in the lab (top) to work in the field (bottom). The Class of 1949 chemistry majors, alone, included Catherine Winkler Olds, Selene Elliot Butters, and Lorraine “Lorry” Swatik Szabo, who enjoyed a 38-year career at Standard Oil/BP and holds patents on Boron gasoline. OWU trustee and chemistry major Carol Hilkirk Latham ’65 left BP to start her own company, Thermagon, Inc.
Amanda Matthews Woerman ’08, a botany/microbiology major, holds a Ph.D. in molecular medicine and is an expert in neurodegenerative diseases at the University of California, San Francisco.
The next generation continues this success. Zoology major Shannon Schlater ’17 (bottom), spent 10 weeks last year at The Rhino Orphanage in South Africa, where she helped raise motherless calves. “With 1,215-plus rhinos poached in 2014 alone, we must realize our thirst for items such as ivory and rhino horn are driving wildlife into extinction,” she says.
