The road to academic success can be long and arduous, but with friends and mentors, the journey can be joyful and fulfilling.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s the message alumnus Carrie Tirel shared with graduate students at the third annual Graduate School Fellowship Celebration on Sept. 28. The event came 50 years after UWM awarded its first doctoral degree, which, like Tirel\u2019s, was in mathematics.<\/p>\n
Though from a small town near Manitowoc, Tirel didn\u2019t find Milwaukee intimidating. In fact, she migrated from UW-Manitowoc to UW-Platteville but was ultimately drawn to UWM and didn\u2019t look back, earning her bachelor\u2019s, master\u2019s and doctoral degrees in Milwaukee.<\/p>\n
Speaking to the UWM graduate students, she validated their choice to come to UWM.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo matter what your definition of success is, this is the right place to pursue it,\u201d she said. \u00a0\u201cI found such a great community of support and inspiration that helped me fit in and achieve my goals.\u201d<\/p>\n
But it wasn\u2019t always easy for Tirel, who now has tenure at UW-Fox Valley.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know what it\u2019s like to struggle with finances,\u201d she said. \u201cThe financial support that fellowships provide were so important for me. Finances were tough for me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Among the people who influenced her is UW-Manitowoc professor Marty Schuh, who taught Tirel first-semester calculus.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe was fantastic. She\u2019s definitely one of the reasons I am where I am today,\u201d Tirel said.<\/p>\n
She also credits her doctoral adviser at UWM, Craig Guilbault, a mentor who has supported her well after she got her degree.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s helped me to stay in the research loop \u2013 I don\u2019t know if I\u2019d have tenure today without him,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Guilbault reciprocates the high regard, but thinks Tirel can be a bit modest.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn my opinion, she was an excellent student — from B.S. to M.S. to Ph.D.,\u201d Guilbault said. \u201cAnd she was a huge asset to UWM as a teacher.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tirel continues her research and publication, but she has also recently been able to act on an abiding passion: addressing the shortage of women in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) fields.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy experience as a grad student was as very much a minority, and as a teacher I\u2019ve noticed it as well,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s impossible not to ask why this is happening, why women are dropping out after the first test.\u201d<\/p>\n
With fellow faculty member Jamie Douglas, Tirel co-founded Empower and Lead: Women in STEM at UW-Fox Valley. The group received a $10,000 grant from the Women’s Fund for the Fox Valley Region in 2015 and $5,000 in support from AT&T this year.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe get them to chat among themselves, so they at least can avoid the sense of isolation that being a minority can create.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tirel and Douglas have been recruiting women for the program, which brings women together twice a month to discuss their challenges.<\/p>\n
The campus group\u2019s goals include eliminating structural barriers women face in STEM fields by improving their access to peer networks, role models and sponsors or mentors.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe bring in women from engineering firms, actuaries, that sort of thing, to talk about what they\u2019ve had to overcome that and how they\u2019ve done it,\u201d Tirel said. \u201cSeeing a person who\u2019s done the things you\u2019re trying to do right now, that\u2019s totally a motivator \u2013 it\u2019s more real than just putting a title on your major.\u201d<\/p>\n
She\u2019s even having some impact on the other side of the sex divide.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve recently had interest from male students who want to join our program, which I think is wonderful.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
With three degrees from UWM and tenure at UW-Fox Valley, mathematician Carrie Tirel is making time to encourage young women to follow her path.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":81,"featured_media":38813,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","uwm_wg_additional_authors":[]},"categories":[174],"tags":[],"section":[139],"display_categories":[115,116],"related-coverage":[],"uwmnews-feed":[167,158,153,161],"class_list":["post-38810","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","section-science-technology","display_categories-top-story-secondary","display_categories-top-story-section","uwmnews-feed-alumni-association","uwmnews-feed-letters-science","uwmnews-feed-graduate","uwmnews-feed-hard-science"],"uwm_unpublish_requested":false,"yoast_head":"\n