Katie Collins sparks STEM inspiration one robot at a time, mentoring the same FIRST Robotics Competition team that she loved as a high school student and providing opportunities for younger students to get excited about STEM.
Women's History at Rose
Meet a few of the women alumnae, staff, faculty and students who are part of the Rose‑Hulman community.
Elizabeth Staryak
Elizabeth Staryak and her deep compassion are creating a better world. She raises and trains guide dogs for Guiding Eyes for the Blind and was recognized as the New York Junior League's Outstanding Volunteer in 2024.
Mary Claire Obluda
Chemical engineering student Mary Claire Obluda is exploring her passions and the wilderness through the Noblitt Scholars Program while also helping other students to achieve their goals.
Hair Hub
Nola Wilson, Jada Hunter-Hays, Uche Osuji, and Narindwa Semakula braid empowerment and entrepreneurship through their startup Hair Hub, an app encouraging Black women to feel confident in creating their own hairstyles.
Marie Stettler Kleine
Marie Stettler Kleine, a 2014 mechanical engineering alumna and assistant professor at Colorado School of Mines, is contributing her expertise as an enterprising educator as an alumni representative to Rose-Hulman's Board of Trustees.
Inspiring STEM Journeys
These accomplished leaders, scientists, athletes, and engineers honor the women who are part of their stories and share wisdom for younger women to write theirs.
TEDx Talks - Leading STEM Voices
Rose-Hulman’s third TEDx Talks event will feature women faculty members and a visiting Fulbright Scholar discussing topics pertaining to engineering, sustainability, art, science, mathematics, and bringing diversity to STEM.
Sudipa Kirtley
Award-winning Physics and Optical Engineering Professor Sudipa Kirtley, PhD, introduced hands-on laboratory experiences to help students learn physics principles. She also has provided unique research opportunities for undergraduate students.
Michelle Lollie
A supporting campus environment and several undergraduate research opportunities helped physics alumna Michelle Lollie, PhD, achieve her goal of becoming a quantum physicist, now working as an advanced laser scientist with Quantinuum.
Marcie Morrison
Mechanical engineering alumna Marcie Morrison was a member of the inaugural coeducation first-year class in 1995. She is co-owner of a family-owned business that specializes in providing innovative aviation solutions for clients.
Caroline Carvill
Caroline Carvill is amid her 33rd year at Rose-Hulman as a professor of American literature. During that tenure she has been the first woman professor to receive the Dean's Outstanding Teacher Award (1994), serve as associate dean of faculty, and earn the Alumni Association’s Honorary Alumni Award (2003).
Tanya Colonna
Alumna Tanya Colonna, a 2013 Rose-Hulman alumna, is chief executive officer of Oro Muscles, a Netherlands-based entrepreneurial startup that’s breaking boundaries by connecting muscle activity data to physical action.
Gabbie Gilbertson
Gabbie Gilbertson, a 2020 mechanical engineering and biomedical engineering alumna, is a ride performance engineer within the Williams Formula 1 race team’s vehicle dynamics group in Oxford, England, where she helps high-tech cars compete in the most competitive level of international open-wheel racing.
Kristen Loyd and Kristen Merchant
As the respective roles as director and associate director for the Union and Student Activities Office, Kristen Loyd and Kristen Merchant talk about the supportive environment they have as women leaders at Rose-Hulman, and their roles in empowering women students at Rose.
Anne Trobaugh
The 2003 mechanical engineer alumna, Anne Trobaugh has formed My Best Friend at Work, an online tool to serve as an advisor, coach, cheerleader, and unwavering advocate to help women become more self-confident, address challenging work situations, and advance to their potential in STEM.
Luanne Tilstra
Professor of Chemistry Luanne Tilstra is an expert in physical and polymer chemistry. She helped establish and was the inaugural director of what's now known as the Center for Diversity and Inclusion at Rose-Hulman and is currently active in establishing support systems for women faculty and students in STEM.
Erinn Reilly
Alumna Erinn Reilly has applied educational experiences as a biomedical engineering student and Rose-Hulman Ventures intern to become a leader bringing innovative medical technology to improve the treatment of heart failure and related diseases.
Christine Buckley
Dr. Christine Buckley has worked to bring STEM education to K-12 students while teaching biomedical and mechanical engineering at Rose-Hulman for more than 20 years. She was recently named Faculty Director of the new Noblitt Scholars program.
Rebecca DeVasher
Professor of Chemistry Rebecca DeVasher leads an active research program in green chemistry. The winner of the 2020 Dean's Outstanding Teacher Award, DeVasher has been a faculty mentor in the Operation Catapult program and is the faculty adviser for the Unity student organization.
Noor Abufares
Noor Abufares is Biomedical engineering major who embraces community service and performing in the symphony orchestra.
Michelle Marincel Payne
Michelle Marincel Payne's students have gotten knee-deep in Lost Creek exploring ways to deliver water to less developed regions of the world. The associate professor of civil and environmental engineering is currently helping students investigate the ability of constructed treatment wetlands to remove stormwater pollutants.
Amy Helliwell
A star athlete growing up, women's soccer coach Amy Helliwell envisioned herself as a math teacher. Now 12 years into her coaching career, Helliwell enjoys helping her athletes improve in soccer and in life.
Kay C Dee
As associate dean of learning and technology, Kay C Dee helped colleagues successfully transition to online learning during the past year. An award-winning professor with expertise in cell and tissue engineering, she is also a champion for women in STEM.
Rebecca Bercich
Rebecca Bercich is an assistant professor of mechanical engineering whose areas of expertise and research are in assistive medical devices, mechatronic systems, and plastic recycling technology for closed-loop economies. Bercich has earned teaching awards throughout her graduate studies and served as a guest speaker at Women in Engineering programs that encouraged high school students to explore STEM careers.
Patsy Brackin
Patsy Brackin is director of Rose-Hulman's engineering design program and a professor of mechanical engineering. Named an ABET Fellow in 2020, Brackin helped develop the Home for Environmentally Responsible Engineering (HERE) program, a living-learning experience for students interested in sustainability and humanitarian engineering.
Erin O'Connor
Biomedical engineering alumna Erin O’Connor is a major in the Air Force, directing physical therapy clinic operations supporting the 22 Special Tactics Squadron in Washington. That’s why she earned the 2020 Jess Lucas Alumni Leadership Award, which honors former RHIT residence life staff members for career achievements.
Kim Henthorn
Kimberly Henthorn identifies with the chemical engineering students in her classes since she was once one of them as member of Rose-Hulman’s first coed incoming class, graduating in 1999. The department head specializes in particle technology and is conducting research with students on the science and engineering of chocolate production.
Kathy Hammett
As Senior Director of the Center for Global Engagement, Kathy Hammett leads Rose-Hulman's international education efforts. She loves welcoming international students to Rose and helping domestic students study abroad.
25 Years of Being Co-Ed
Over the past 25 years, Rose-Hulman women have excelled – taking campus leadership roles, earning top academic and athletic awards, and blazing new trails as alumni.
Diane Evans
Professor Diane Evans has been named one of the country’s best 300 professors, nominated for U.S. Professor of the Year and named a Microsoft 365 Hero in Education. She specializes in probability and statistics, statistical process control, and Six Sigma, in which she is a certified black belt.
Megan Heyman
Associate Head of Mathematics and Assistant Professor Megan Heyman is a statistician focused on creating statistical models to describe climate change and environmental phenomena. The Rose-Hulman alumna has worked with NASA and has served as co-director of Rose-Hulman's IP/ROP independent undergraduate research program.
Kathy Kassissieh
As Associate Director of Career Services and Employer Relations, Kathy Kassissieh leads the Student Success Team, which coaches students both individually and in group presentations on career-related topics.
Katlynn Bussett
Katlynn Bussett is a biomedical engineering student and president of the Alpha Omicron Pi sorority. She shares her thoughts on the importance of recognizing the progress in women’s rights and the work still to be done, as well as how she is supported by her fellow students and the faculty at Rose-Hulman.
Lisa Norton
Dean of Students Lisa Norton joined the Rose-Hulman Office of Admissions in 1998. She has helped thousands of students enter the institute and enjoys watching their progress as students and later as alumni.
Bernadette Ewen
The Logan Library continues to be a valuable resource to the Rose-Hulman community under senior director Bernadette Ewen. She also has been active in several community activities within her hometown.
Erin Gawron-Hyla
Chemistry and mathematics alumna Erin Gawron-Hyla is co-founder of SenSyn Inc., a startup by three women scientists applying ground-breaking technology to a variety of applications. Also, after completing a Ph.D., she is a chemist at the U.S. Army Research Laboratory.
Taylor Lueking
Taylor Lueking is president of the Society of Women Engineers and a mechanical engineering major. A licensed pilot, Lueking talks about the support network the campus SWE chapter provides for Rose-Hulman students, and overcoming challenges as a woman breaking barriers.
Kelly Noel
Kelly Noel is a busy electrical engineering alumna. She’s a wife, mother of a hockey-playing daughter, an award-winning young professional with experience in the health care industry and she’s giving back to RHIT as president of the Alumni Association’s Advisory Board.
Tonya Combs
A 2001 chemical engineering alumna, Tonya Combs is vice president and deputy general patent counsel with Eli Lilly and Company. Previously, she was senior director and general patent counsel for the company’s biomedicines business unit, and team leader and general counsel for the oncology business unit. Combs recently started a term on the Rose-Hulman Board of Trustees.