She's Got Nerve

In this episode Martha and Indira have a conversation with Mary Sue Coleman, an internationally recognized biochemist who received a Bachelor of Science in chemistry from Grinnell College and a Ph. D. in biochemistry from the University of North Carolina. She was on the biochemistry faculty at the University of Kentucky for nineteen years, then served as the 18th President of the University of Iow...

In this episode Martha and Indira have a conversation with Catherine McCauley, a remarkable administrator who has worked in both Ontario and British Columbia. She is currently a founding partner of Quinn McCauley Giving Strategies Inc. in Vancouver and is sought after for her expertise in charitable giving, public sector fundraising and foundation management.   A true leader who has demonstrated “...

In this episode Martha and Indira have a conversation with Lisa Coleman, the first woman and first Black person to be president of Adler University—a private graduate studies university dedicated to graduating practitioners who will lead social change and create a more just society. Founded in Chicago in 1952 to continue the work of Alfred Adler, a physician and psychotherapist who emphasized the...

In this episode Martha and Indira have a conversation with Nadine Caron, the first Canadian female general surgeon of First Nations descent, as well as the first female First Nations student to graduate from the University of British Columbia’s medical school, being the top ranked student. She has also received an MA degree in Public Health from Harvard and completed a postgraduate fellowship at t...

In this episode Martha and Indira have a conversation with a woman leader who has demonstrated “nerve” throughout her entire life.  Moura Quayle a renown strategic design scholar and urban systems designer. Moura has done it all—in both academia and government and community affairs. She has been an academic leader at UBC and has served in various leadership roles including Dean of the Faculty of L...

In this episode Martha and Indira have a conversation with Melanie Woodin , an internationally recognized neuroscientist who studies the mechanisms underlying learning and memory in the brain. Melanie has recently been named the University of Toronto’s 17th president, the first woman to assume this position .  Prior to this appointment, she was dean of the university’s Faculty of Arts and Science—...

In this episode Martha and Indira speak candidly with Sara Seager, a Canadian-American, world-renowned leader in astrophysics and planetary science. A professor at MIT, she has been instrumental in advancing the study of planets outside our solar system. Her research has greatly improved our understanding of the wide variety of exoplanets that exist in the galaxy and pushed us closer to finding an...

In this episode Martha and Indira speak candidly with Kim Brooks, who began her term as Dalhousie’s 13th President and Vice-Chancellor in 2023 after serving as Acting Provost and Dean of both the Law School and the Faculty of Management. Kim has had a distinguished career as a law professor at Queen’s University, UBC and McGill and is known for her expertise in tax law.  In addition, she has been...

In this episode Martha and Indira speak candidly with Biddy Martin, a distinguished humanities scholar and widely respected leader in higher education.  For more than two decades she served on the faculty of German studies and women’s studies at Cornell University. She chaired the Department of German Studies, served as senior associate dean in the College of Arts and Sciences, and assumed the rol...

In this episode Martha speaks candidly with Joy Johnson, a distinguished health scientist and researcher in gender and health with a particular focus on promoting health and modifying health-related behaviour. In particular, she has studied the different health behaviours of women and men in terms of how gender affects how they react differently to drugs and other therapies.  With an impressive re...

In this episode Martha and Indira speak candidly with Anne-Marie Slaughter, a woman who has demonstrated “nerve” throughout her entire life. Currently CEO of the think and action tank New America , Anne-Marie is a global leader, scholar, and public intellectual. She was the J. Sinclair Armstrong Professor of International, Foreign and Comparative Law at Harvard Law School. From 2002 to 2009, she w...

In this special live recorded episode, Martha and Indira speak candidly with Jill Moffatt, an elite woman athlete and 2X Olympic rower - an individual who has demonstrated “nerve” throughout her entire life. As co-founder of MOMentum, an initiative to advance gender equity in sport and the support of motherhood in women athletes, Jill is passionate about creating a more inclusive future for women...

In this episode, Martha and Indira speak candidly with Mary Wells, a Canadian materials engineer who is highly regarded for her research advances in the processing of advanced metallic alloys.   She currently serves as Dean of Engineering at the University of Waterloo, the second woman to assume this position.  Prior to her appointment at Waterloo, she was Dean for the College of Engineering and P...

In this episode, Martha and Indira speak candidly with Susan Hockfield, an American neuroscientist and the first woman to serve as president of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) from 2004 to 2012.  Prior to becoming president, Dr. Hockfield served as Dean of Yale’s Graduate School of Arts and Sciences and Yale’s Provost.   As the first life scientist to be appointed president of MIT,...

In this episode, Martha and Indira speak candidly with Rt. Hon. Kim Campbell, who served as the 19th prime minister of Canada – the first and only female prime minister of Canada. She was the first young woman president of her high school student council, the first woman president of UBC’s freshman class, the first woman to serve as minister of justice in Canada and the first woman to become minis...

In this episode, Martha and Indira speak candidly with Elizabeth Cannon, a leading geomatics engineer, served as the eighth president and vice-chancellor of the University of Calgary from 2010 to 2018. Prior to her appointment as president, she was dean of the Schulich School of Engineering at the University of Calgary.  Appointed as an Officer of the Order of Canada and a Member to the Alberta Or...

In this episode, Martha and Indira speak candidly with Drew Faust, an American historian who was the first woman to serve as president of Harvard University from 2007 to 2018.   She received her bachelor’s degree with honors in history from Bryn Mawr College and her M.A. and Ph. D. degrees in history from the University of Pennsylvania. As a scholar she specializes in the study of the South in the...

In this episode, Martha and Indira speak candidly with Alison Richard, a distinguished anthropologist who is widely known for her research on the evolution of complex social systems among primates , was the first woman to be appointed Vice-Chancellor (President) of Cambridge University.   Before arriving at Cambridge, she served as the Provost of Yale University.  She was appointed Dame Commander...

In this episode, Martha and Indira speak candidly with Anne Giardini, a Canadian business executive, journalist, lawyer and author who served as the 11th Chancellor of Simon Fraser University.  She was president of Weyerhauser Company Ltd. and has written two novels, The Sad Truth About Happiness and Advice for Italian Boys . She is an Officer of the Order of Canada and a member of the Order of Br...

In this episode, Martha and Indira speak candidly with Susan Christoffersen who is currently serving as the first woman to be appointed Dean of the Joseph L. Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto.  Susan discusses her own experiences in the position and how she had the ‘nerve’ to get there.  Episode Resources The Institute for Gender and the Economy (GATE) at the Rotman School o...

In this episode, Martha and Indira speak candidly with Heather Munroe-Blum who served as Principal and Vice-Chancellor of McGill University from 2003-2013. Heather discusses her own experiences in the position and how she had the ‘nerve’ to get there.  Episode Resources Brown, Brené. Daring Greatly: How the Courage to Be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent, and Lead. New York: Aver...

In this episode Martha and Indira speak candidly with Maria Klawe, the fifth and first woman president of Harvey Mudd College from 2006 to 2023.  Maria discusses her own experiences in the position and how she had the ‘nerve’ to get there. Episode Resources Maria’s acronym - Long Creeks Past Dazzling Waterfalls L - Listen until the full stop C - Confirm what you have heard P - Prepare and take not...

In this episode, Martha and Indira speak candidly with Shirley Tilghman who was the first woman to serve as president of Princeton University from 2001-2013.  Shirley discusses her own experiences in the position and how she had the ‘nerve’ to get there.    Episode Resources Haslam, N. (2016).  Bell-Shaped Distribution of Personality Traits.  In Zeigler-Hill, V., Shackelford, T. (eds).  Encycloped...