Special Section

Barbara Iglewski, professor emeritus in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology, was selected for induction into the National Women’s Hall of Fame, an honor that puts her alongside women’s rights activist Susan B. Anthony, former first lady Betty Ford, and founder of the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation Nancy Brinker.

One of 10 inductees named for 2015, Iglewski was selected for her research on how bacteria cause infections. Her laboratory was the first to discover that bacteria use a communication system—a type of chemical language—to coordinate attacks on human cells and initiate disease. Her work launched an entire field of study into how the system works in many types of bacteria. Several drugs designed to interrupt that communication process and prevent infection are being developed based on her work.

The National Women’s Hall of Fame is the nation’s oldest organization dedicated to recognizing and celebrating the achievements of American women. It was created in 1969 by a group of community members in Seneca Falls, New York, considered the birthplace of the American women’s rights movement and where the first-known women’s rights convention was held in 1848.

Every two years, the hall honors a group of women nominated by the public and chosen by a national panel of experts. This year’s induction ceremony will take place October 3.

Loretta Ford, founding dean of the School of Nursing, was inducted into the hall in 2011, and Judith Pipher, professor emeritus of physics and astronomy, was inducted in 2007.