Highlighting the history of women in the history of Mass General and in the history of science, discovery and academic medicine, is critically important. When I came to Mass General, there were very few women there. I would say, tying in the Bulfinch Building, endocrinology, the history, the training, it was an opportunity whether it was in that Ether Dome, you’re in those lectures, to really see, and take advantage of, the knowledge and often the uncelebrated history of the women that were there.
So I was able to interact with Nan Forbes, or Janet McArthur, or Anne Barnes, so many of the women who were there, among the very few women who were there, and really understand that there were women who were important, who could be role models, who I could look to to say, yes. There is a history of women here at MGH. It is a small history, but it’s one that needs to be expanded, that needs to be celebrated. I have spent so many years of my own career looking to advance women at Mass General, it is rewarding to think back to those very early days in that Ether Dome, and looking around at who was there, what was being recognized, and the future of what needed to be done.