Dr. Steve O’Brien, Interim Dean for TCNJ’s School of Engineering, was invited to serve as a judge for the STEM Educator award at the 2020 Ada Lovelace Awards. These awards exist to examine and challenge inequities in the technology industry by celebrating women in the Gulf South who thrive despite discrimination in the industry. Dean O’Brien was “honored” to present the STEM Educator Award to Sarah E. Garner, a board-certified Pathologists’ Assistant (PA) and founder and Director of the Pathologists’ Assistant Program at Tulane University School of Medicine, the only PA program in the southern United States.
In presenting the award, Dean O’Brien reflected upon Garner’s innovation, grit in the face of high barriers, and impact, saying: “She accomplished a lot of firsts…[despite] substantial barriers. She was very innovative in a field with very few women. She was professor of the year, and as she was entering her career, there were no clinical sites in the south, so she started one for herself. And she’s also started an e-book on anatomy, which will be very low cost, and therefore very accessible to many other young women starting in their field.”
You can watch a replay of the awards and Dean O’Brien’s presentation on Facebook, where the ceremony broadcasted live.