UC alum creates platform to encourage young women in STEM

By Rebecca Schweitzer

Madelyn Leembruggen has long excelled in STEM-related subjects, with the study coming naturally to her. The alumna of UC’s College of Arts and Sciences graduated Phi Beta Kappa with a 4.0 in 2018, with degrees in physics, astrophysics and mathematics.

Leembruggen has long been aware of the lack of representation of women role models for young girls interested in pursuing their STEM passions. Now a PhD candidate in theoretical physics at Harvard, Leembruggen set out to help inspire the next generation of women in STEM.

Toward that end, she and a group of mostly female graduate students at Harvard have created a STEM focused website, “A World of Women in STEM (WOWSTEM): Celebrating women+ STEM heroes of past, present and future.” Directed to women interested in the fields of science, technology, engineering and math, the site designates its audience as "women+," to be inclusive of all women and gender minority individuals. 

During her time in A&S, Leembruggen volunteered with Physics Department initiatives and at physics demonstration events for high schoolers as well as serving as an A&S Ambassador. 

“I most appreciated the liberal arts education I received at A&S,” Leembruggen said. “I was actively encouraged to take classes outside my major throughout my degrees. This gave me an appreciation for how the physical sciences, social sciences, and humanities depend on one another and prepared me well for the interdisciplinary work I do now.”