Jane Lubchenco
University Distinguished Professor and Advisor in
Marine Studies, Oregon State University
Former Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans
and Atmosphere and Former Administrator of the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) (2009–2013)
Former US Science Envoy for the Ocean,
US State Department (2014–2016)JOY LEIGHTONJane Lubchenco was a Harvard University assistant professor of ecology in 1976 when she and her husband, Bruce Menge, an ecologist at the University of Massachusetts, began to look for academic positions that would allow more time for each to spend with the family they hoped to have. The young couple realized that their biology fieldwork and teaching left little room for time with kids. Because neither wanted to put their career on hold, they proposed a novel idea to the departments where they interviewed. They asked to be treated as two independent, tenure-track professors, but to split one tenure-track position into two half-time positions. Most universities shied away, but at Oregon State University (OSU), both the faculty and the dean were willing to try the unusual arrangement.
The couple moved to OSU in 1977, and their first son, Alexei, was born the following summer. As a three-week-old, Alexei accompanied his parents on a research trip to Panama. Their second son, Duncan, was born three years later and spent his first summer on a field expedition, camping with his parents and brother on the Oregon coast. A decade later, both parents were tenured and ready to work three-quarters time. When the boys were 13 and 10 years old, the couple switched to full-time. “The positions allowed us the flexibility to organize our lives in the way that worked best for us,” says Lubchenco.
“Science can’t tell society what to do. We must work together to identify problems and find solutions.”
So many scientists ...
