UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN-MADISON ARCHIVES
ORAL HISTORY PROJECT

Interview #867
BLACKWELL, HELEN

BLACKWELL, HELEN (1972- )
Assistant Professor of Chemistry
At UW: 2002-

Interviewed: 	2007	
Interviewer: 	Sandy Pfahler
Length: 	39 minutes

Abstract: Childhood and early education in the Cleveland, Ohio area; undergraduate chemistry major at Oberlin College; graduate study at California Institute of Technology; postdoc position at Harvard; hiring by the UW Department of Chemistry; research and funding; teaching; campus climate for women; recreation.
							
First Interview Session (May 9, 2007): Digital File

Time	Keywords
00:00:00	Start of Interview/Interviewer’s Introduction

00:00:20	[Begin Tape 1/Side 1] Helen Blackwell was born in 1972 in Cleveland, Ohio.  She grew up in the suburbs of Cleveland and attended public school there.  She talks about her early interest in math and science.  Her father was a chemist and she had good science teachers in school.

00:02:40	She talks about how she decided which college to attend.  She was pretty sure she wanted to be a scientist, but wanted a liberal arts education.  She went to Oberlin College.  

00:03:34	Blackwell talks about her science professors at Oberlin.  She was a chemistry major.  She talks about early work in a research lab.  She describes the Winter Term Project, where you can do independent projects for the month of January.  Every year for her project she worked in a research lab at Case Western University.  Because of this, early on she decided that she wanted to continue with research.

00:05:35	HB explains how she decided to attend graduate school at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.  She talks about the strengths of the department.  She describes her research in macromolecules and polymer chemistry and her interest in the relationship between structure and function.  She describes her graduate training under Professor Bob Grubbs and her study of carbon-carbon bonds. Bob Grubbs received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2005.

00:08:55	She talks about some of the faculty in the department at CalTech.  She talks about the intense nature of the lab work in the program.  She describes her social life during grad school.  She met her future husband in grad school.

00:10:51	Blackwell talks about teamwork and group projects.  She finished her Ph.D. in 1999.

00:11:14	She did a 3-year post-doc at Harvard in chemical biology.  She talks about her research and the value of the post-doc position.

00:13:31	She talks about her decision to look for an academic job in a chemistry department where she could work in chemical biology.  She talks about applying for a job at UW.  She came to UW in 2002.

00:15:03	Blackwell talks about her position at UW and the culture of the Department of Chemistry.  She describes the department support for junior faculty.

00:16:19	She talks about the students in the department.  She discusses her office and lab facilities.

00:17:35	She discusses her recent research at UW.  She is interested in small molecule signaling in bacteria and its applications for controlling infectious disease.  Her research is funded mostly through the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation.  She has 13 people in her lab.

00:20:56	She talks about training and mentoring graduate students.  She discusses writing instruction.

00:23:17	Blackwell lists some of the courses that she teaches in the chemistry department. She teaches a large section of organic chemistry, an undergraduate laboratory course, and a graduate seminar in organic chemistry.

00:26:52	HB talks about her service on department committees including graduate admissions.  

00:27:41	She discusses her scholarly interaction with people in Biochemistry and Chemical Engineering.  She tells about her mentors in the department.  She talks about the climate for women in the sciences at UW.  

00:30:55	She talks about the gender ratio of the students in the departments.  They are about 50% female when they are admitted, but only about 30% at completion of the program.

00:31:40	HB talks about professional organizations she belongs to.  She is not active in these groups at this point in her career.  She does present papers at conferences. 

00:33:51	She lists several awards and honors she has earned.  

00:35:19	She talks about her husband and the issue of balancing time between work and recreation.  She enjoys hiking, cooking, and travel.  

00:38:47	End of First Interview Session.

End of Interview #867