A New Look: Gift to Advance Women in Math and Science
When she began her studies, Kim Thomadsen Kleber was told, "You don't look like an engineer." Now she has endowed an engineering-focused scholarship through her estate plan as her part in advancing women in math and science.
"I was always interested in math and science, arriving at the University of Michigan as a pre-med student. A series of coincidences altered my path when I couldn't get into chemistry—having placed out of first year, and second-year classes were full—and had better luck talking my way into the full physics class," Kim says.
"During that first semester, I watched my fellow pre-med roommate fall apart after her first chemistry exam, and I began wondering if med school was the right path for me, along with the many years of tuition required.
"By then I had pledged Alpha Gam, and my sister-mother Christina Pappageorge Bennet was an industrial and operations engineering major. By luck or by destiny, I spent time talking with her and other sisters about engineering."
With their encouragement, she applied and was accepted to the College of Engineering that winter.
"I still remember being told, ‘You don't look like an engineer'—a bias/compliment based on all engineers being ‘nerdy,' and women—then and now-representing less than 10 percent of engineering students," Kim says.
"An engineering foundation—problem solving and more—opens doors for women to pursue numerous career directions. Encouraging girls to pursue math and science in K-12 is critical. Providing support then and through college is essential. Beginning as early as third grade, the statistics for girls' expressing interest in math/science are abysmal, as is the year-by-year drop-off rate.
"I made a commitment to affect change by endowing an engineering-focused scholarship with the Alpha Gamma Delta Foundation as my part in advancing women in math and science. I did it because Alpha Gamma Delta is special to me, and I did it through a gift in my will," she says.
"So listen to your inner voice. Change your mind. Ask questions. Listen. Lead. Appreciate. Join me in giving back to Alpha Gamma Delta to affect change, live your passion and support our future generations of sisters."
