Ordinarily Extraordinary - Conversations with women in STEM
We’re Kathy Nelson and Linda LaTourelle — co-hosts of Ordinarily Extraordinary: Conversations with Women in STEM.
Kathy, an electrical engineer, launched the podcast in 2020 to share real, unfiltered stories of women working across STEM disciplines. Now with over 130 episodes, the mission remains the same: to amplify the voices of ordinary women doing extraordinary work in science, technology, engineering, and math.
We’re deeply committed to:
- Normalizing the presence of women in STEM by making their stories visible
- Building community for women who may be the only ones like them in their workplace
- Educating listeners about the wide variety of STEM careers — and what they actually look like
- Empowering growth and retention by addressing the challenges behind the leaky pipeline
From early-career professionals to experienced leaders, our guests share how they got started, how they’ve grown, and what they’ve learned along the way. This podcast is a space where women in STEM can be seen, heard, and supported — because representation isn’t just powerful, it’s essential.
Ordinarily Extraordinary - Conversations with women in STEM
71. Dr. Linda Schadler, Dean, College of Engineering & Mathematical Sciences
Dr. Linda Schadler is the Dean of The College of Engineering and Mathematical Sciences at the University of Vermont (UVM). She has a PhD from the University of Pennsylvania where she studied the micromechanical behavior of fiber and polymer composites and a B.S. in Material Science from Cornell University. Dr. Schadler has many publications and academic awards. She is an outdoor enthusiast and has two grown children.
Episode Notes
Dr. Linda Schadler shares her experiences becoming a dean and running the College of Engineering & Mathematical Sciences at UVM. She is incredibly accomplished and driven, and also talks about how her and her husband have always had a policy of family first.
She talks about material science and what got her interested in materials science and academia. She shares some really fantastic and fun sounding projects during her career and how being in the groove with her students is the funnest part of her job.
Music used in the podcast: Higher Up, Silverman Sound Studio
Acronyms, Definitions, and Fact Check
Provost is a senior administrative officer in certain colleges and universities.
The Molecularium Project is an informal science education project of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. The Molecularium Project introduces young audiences to the world of atoms and molecules using character driven stories, immersive animation, interactive games and activities, and state of the art molecular visualizations. Rensselaer's three principal scientist and educators behind the project are Linda Schadler, Richard W. Siegel, and Shekhar Garde. The Molecularium Project began as an outreach project of Rensselaer's Nanoscale Science and Engineering Center. To realize the productions, the scientists employed the creative team Nanotoon Entertainment, led by writer and director V. Owen Bush, and writer/producer Kurt Przybilla. The Molecularium Project is funded by Rensselaer, the National Science Foundation, and New York State.
In 2002, Dr. Schadler and Dr. Garde produced a seven-minute pilot show for the local planetarium called “Molecularium” for the Digistar II Planetarium system. It introduces children to the concepts of atoms and molecules from small molecules like H2O to larger molecules like polymers. (wikipedia)
The Peter principle is a concept in management developed by Laurence J. Peter, which observes that people in a hierarchy tend to rise to "a level of respective incompetence": employees are promoted based on their success in previous jobs until they reach a level at which they are no longer competent, as skills in one job do not necessarily translate to another. (wikipedia)
University of Vermont (UVM) - Since 1791, the University of Vermont has worked to move humankind forward. Today, UVM is a top research university of a perfect size, large enough to offer a breadth of ideas, resources, and opportunities, yet small enough to enable close faculty-student mentorship across all levels of study, from bachelor’s to M.D. programs. (https://www.uvm.edu)
