I was passing the gallery of photos of all of our present physics majors in the hallway outside my office the other day and I was reminded of what my daughter-in-law Laura (Kropp) Koetke often asks me when I tell her about things are at VU and in the department: "How many women physics majors are there?" My answer continues to be encouraging one for female students. At present, there are 8 female and 22 male physics majors at VU with the women representing 27% of this group. How does this compare with the national averages for undergraduate physics major education? According to the 1998 AIP report on undergraduate physics education, the fraction of women among the graduating physics majors in 1997 was 19%. You can see that VU compares favorably with these numbers.

I would like to infer from this that women students who come to VU can achieve their educational goals in an unthreatening and supportive environment. During my 22 years at VU we have had some very fine women students who have gone on to a wide variety of careers. I think our database is complete and if so, the list of those women who graduated during my tenure here includes --

You will find them all in the alumni online database and it interesting to see their career directions. I must say that I have lost a connection with a few over the years and perhaps we will get "connected" again soon.

This year Lindsey Hillesheim will be graduating and will be off to graduate school. She was recently accepted at the University of Minnesota, her home state. And, surprise(!) -- Lindsey gets an e-mail from Kristi Keller ('87) who is completing her degree program at the University of Minnesota.Along with Lindsy, the other women students majoring in physics now, include --

Each of these students brings a special talent as did those who graduated before them. It is not only in physics and astronomy, but includes music, athletics, humanities, and more. My best wishes to you all; I am proud of you all.

	With warm regards,
	Don

donald.koetke@valpo.edu