The “Getting to Know You Program” hosted by Amelia Augustus will interview new Kendal resident Cecily Cannan Selby on Wednesday, February 17 at 3:00 pm via Zoom.
According to Amelia, Cecily is a “Renaissance woman who promotes integrating the Arts, Humanities, and Sciences”.
Cecily’s lifelong devotion to science began with a B.S. degree in physics from Radcliffe and then, at the age of 23, a Ph.D. in physical biology from MIT.
Choosing to concentrate on independent research at the Sloan-Kettering Institute and Cornell Medical School, she was among the first to use X-ray diffraction and electron microscopy to explore the intimate structure of cells. After the birth of her three sons, she sought and found ways to pursue science in a more family friendly environment than available on academic tracks. Heading a private girls school added management and administration to her skills.
Cecily served on Fortune 500 boards and as a university trustee where she found herself a minority in science literacy as well as in gender! Inevitably, Washington called and she became CEO of a Washington, DC-based national NGO for nuclear energy and co-chaired the National Science Foundation‘s first commission to make K–12 science, mathematics, and technology education for all a national priority.
Cecily concluded her professional career one month ago as Professor of Science Education at NYU where her students were experienced NYC science teachers. She decided to write a book to share how her science experiments, art, and humanities experiences have much in common. The processes of human inquiry are shared by all academic subjects and thus accessible and ready to be mixed and matched by everyone… worldwide.
Make sure you tune in to find out more about this truly unusual individual who has now become one of our Kendal neighbors.