{"id":67852,"date":"2020-07-14T10:12:35","date_gmt":"2020-07-14T14:12:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsroom.carleton.ca\/?p=67852"},"modified":"2025-08-19T09:36:29","modified_gmt":"2025-08-19T13:36:29","slug":"rowan-thomson-named-assistant-science-dean","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/2020\/rowan-thomson-named-assistant-science-dean\/","title":{"rendered":"Rowan Thomson Named Assistant Science Dean for Equity, Diversity and Inclusion"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\n Rowan Thomson Named Assistant Science Dean for Equity, Diversity and Inclusion\n <\/h1>\n \n \n <\/header>\n\n <\/div>\n\n <\/div>\n\n <\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n

Carleton University Prof. Rowan Thomson has been named assistant dean (Equity, Diversity and Inclusion) in the Faculty of Science for a three-year term. In this role, Thomson will build on the faculty\u2019s existing work in creating a diverse and inclusive environment for students, faculty and staff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thomson, a professor at Carleton\u2019s Laboratory for Radiotherapy Physics and the Medical Physics Group<\/a> and Canada Research Chair in Radiotherapy Physics, has been doing research to improve cancer radiation treatments since 2007. Before joining the faculty at Carleton in 2010, she studied Superstring Theory at the Perimeter Institute and the University of Waterloo. Earlier this year, Thomson was elected a Fellow of the American Association of Physicists in Medicine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Rowan
Prof. Rowan Thomson<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere is growing awareness of the inequities in academia and society, and I am thrilled to work with Carleton colleagues and students to increase momentum on initiatives to make Science more inclusive,\u201d says Thomson.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s important to reduce barriers for women and diverse peoples in the sciences, to start a dialogue about the obstacles they\u2019ve faced, and to confront any remaining hurdles,\u201d says Dean Chuck Macdonald. \u201cI\u2019m pleased that Prof. Thomson will lead the way in making the Faculty of Science a more inclusive place to study, conduct research and work.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thomson has long been a proponent of improving awareness about women in physics.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\u201cIn my first year of teaching, I had a second-year class with 50 students and there were three women,\u201d she says. \u201cThe next class I taught had fewer students, but there were no women.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Thomson is already busy in her new role, having hosted Turning the Tide for Women in Science: Untold Stories and Ideas for Change<\/em><\/a>, an event in March 2020 celebrating International Women\u2019s Day. The event included a panel of women scientists in various fields at Carleton discussing the informal and formal barriers faced by women in science.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Photo
Rowan Thomson with Carleton President Benoit-Antoine Bacon<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

And in June 2020, she led the Faculty of Science\u2019s participation in the #STRIKE4BLACKLIVES, hosting a virtual town hall meeting for faculty, staff and contract instructors on how to raise awareness of racism and discuss concrete and sustained actions to foster meaningful change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thomson says promoting women in science and working to reduce barriers for BIPOC people (Black, Indigenous and People of Colour), are positive changes that will benefit everybody.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\u201cI have a lot of ideas of things we can do, including here at Carleton,\u201d she says. \u201cAnd I\u2019m just getting started.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Carleton University Prof. Rowan Thomson has been named assistant dean (Equity, Diversity and Inclusion) in the Faculty of Science for a three-year term. In this role, Thomson will build on the faculty\u2019s existing work in creating a diverse and inclusive environment for students, faculty and staff. Thomson, a professor at Carleton\u2019s Laboratory for Radiotherapy Physics […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":410,"featured_media":61479,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-67852","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-releases"],"acf":{"cu_post_thumbnail":false},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67852","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/410"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=67852"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67852\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":67859,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67852\/revisions\/67859"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/61479"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=67852"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=67852"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=67852"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}