TMC PULSE

t m c » p u l s e | m a r c h 2 0 1 7 22 Leading by Example Women at the TMC J anet Butel defied the social expecta- tions of her time. Instead of finding a suitable husband to marry at Kansas State University—so many women of that era pursued "MRS degrees," she said—Butel pursued a Ph.D. in virology from Baylor College of Medicine, where she gradu- ated in 1966. She had few female colleagues and often found herself the lone woman in classrooms full of men. But she took it in stride. "You know, that didn't bother me," said Butel, Ph.D., Distinguished Service Professor of molecular virology and microbiology at Baylor College of Medicine. "The guys would ask me to explain things to them and help them. I never felt like it mattered." Propelled by curiosity and a love of research, Butel, now 76, tore down gender barriers in her field and earned many "firsts" at the medical school—all while juggling her roles as the wife of a physician and mother of two children, who would grow up to become doctors, as well. At Baylor, Butel became the first woman to be awarded an endowed professorship, the first woman to be named a Distinguished Service Professor and the first woman to chair an academic unit, which she has done for the past 28 years. In honor of her extensive scientific career and accom- plishments, Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner declared Jan. 6, 2017, Dr. Janet Butel Day. "I notice now with the younger women who come to school here, they have no idea what it was like in the '60s and the '70s," Butel said. "When I became chair, I felt like I was given an opportunity to show that women could do as well as men here, because at Baylor, there were very few women in any leadership positions at that point. I felt like I had the opportunity to have an effect locally." Setting a tone Like Butel, Elizabeth Travis, Ph.D., draws on her early experiences to empower women entering the field of medicine today. She was one of two women in her graduate radiation chemistry class at the University of Pittsburgh. "The professor said he had no idea why we were there," Travis recalled. "He thought we were just going to get married and have kids, that we were taking the space that men should have. That was quite common then. That's what people thought. That's how people saw it." Travis, 69, has been on the faculty at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center since 1982. She was promoted to professor in 1988 and has been a pioneer in the study of pulmo- nary complications of cancer therapy. In 2007, Travis was appointed Associate Vice President of Women and Minority Faculty Inclusion at MD Anderson. Her mission is to bring more women and minorities to the leadership table to serve as role models. "There's a good pipeline now for women in science and medicine," Travis said. "Most people don't think a woman can't do this or that job, except for when it comes to leadership. Somehow we're having a hard time there." Today, women account for nearly half the population of medical students and residents, according to a recent report by the Association of American Medical Colleges. Yet as the positions grow more elevated, the gender dispar- ity widens. The same study shows that only 21 percent of full professors are Janet Butel, Ph.D., analyzes radioisotope records in a Baylor College of Medicine lab in 1975. Credit: Baylor College of Medicine Archives Women credited me for having an impact on their life, of which I was totally unaware. It was mostly just being there. They could see me. — JANET BUTEL, PH.D. Distinguished Service Professor of molecular virology and microbiology at Baylor College of Medicine B y S h a n l e y C h i e n In the field of academic medicine, some progress has been made toward gender equality, yet the vast majority of leadership positions still go to men. In honor of Women's History Month, Pulse profiles two women who have inspired younger generations at the Texas Medical Center.

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