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Herstory in the Making

Montage of women's faces

03/08/2021

Women have powered UMass Lowell since its founding in 1894, when they entered the Lowell Normal School as aspiring teachers for public schools and were taught by pioneering women faculty. As the university expanded over the next 125 years, women’s roles did, too.

Now, under the leadership of Jacquie Moloney, UMass Lowell’s first woman chancellor, women continue to advance across the university community. In honor of Women’s History Month, we’re highlighting some of our brightest and bluest River Hawks.

Amazing Alumnae Exemplify River Hawk Spirit

Throughout the generations, UMass Lowell has graduated amazing women who have made an impact on the world and on their communities.

These Young Women have Just Begun their Journeys

  • Melanie Sunnerberg

    Melanie Sunnerberg

    Finance and Marketing

    Business administration major Melanie Sunnerberg has a passion for finance that she’s honed through a co-op experience at MFS Investment Management and her leadership roles in student organizations.

  • Shanice Kelly

    Shanice Kelly

    Physics and Mechanical Engineering

    Shanice Kelly is a leader in multiple campus clubs because she wants to get more students of color involved in STEM, especially space science programs.

  • Molly Tecce

    Molly Tecce

    Plastics Engineering

    Plastics Engineering major Molly Tecce and partners from the 3D Club leapt into action to make PPE when the pandemic struck.

  • Madison Reed

    Madison Reed

    Plastics Engineering

    Madison Reed works as a research assistant with Plastics Engineering Prof. Ramaswamy Nagarajan in the UML Fabric Discovery Center.

  • Nadine Chamoun

    Nadine Chamoun

    Business Administration

    Business student Nadine Chamoun, whose concentrations are in finance and management, stepped out of her comfort zone for an information technology system development internship at Needham Bank. And she’s glad she did.

  • Debby Fernand

    Debby Fernand

    Psychology, Sociology and Race and Ethnic Studies

    Debby Fernand says the River Hawk Scholars Academy has introduced her to friends and faculty mentors – and turned her into a leader herself.

UMass Lowell Looks to Balance the Scales

UMass Lowell Image

Center for Women & Work

The UMass Lowell Center for Women and Work is a community of scholars who are dedicated to advancing knowledge about the relationship between gender and work through research, enhancing understanding of this relationship through education and training, and challenging inequalities through institutional change.

Visit Center for Women & Work

Making WAVES logo

Making WAVES: Women Academics Valued and Engaged in STEM

Making WAVES is an initiative to increase diversity of faculty in STEM fields funded by the National Science Foundation ADVANCE Program. The $3.5 million, five-year grant allows researchers to advance the study of gender bias in the workplace.
Mentor points out something to two young women working on project

Research, Academics and Mentoring Pathways (RAMP)

Piloted in 2018, Research, Academics and Mentoring Pathways (RAMP), is a 6-week summer program that provides support to women entering the Francis College of Engineering with coursework, project work, mentoring, and networking with local companies and alumni.

Learn about RAMP

UMass Lowell Chancellor Jaqueline Moloney

Meet Chancellor Jacquie Moloney

For four consecutive years, UMass Lowell has been the highest-ranked educational institution among the Top 100 Women-Led Businesses in Massachusetts, according to The Commonwealth Institute and Boston Globe Magazine. Jacquie Moloney, the chancellor of UMass Lowell, is a national leader in innovation in higher education. Appointed by a unanimous vote of the UMass Board of Trustees in 2015, she is the first woman to lead the university since its founding in 1894. Learn more about Chancellor Moloney.

Faculty Members Redefine Women's Work

Women's History Month highlights the contributions of women to events in history and contemporary society. It is celebrated during March in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia, corresponding with International Women's Day on March 8.