Ramón Barthelemy receives national Betty Vetter Research Award

Ramón S . Barthelemy, Assistant Professor of Physics & Astronomy at the University of Utah, has been awarded the 2022 Betty Vetter Research Award presented by the Women in Engineering ProActive Network (WEPAN). The national award recognizes notable achievement in research related to women in engineering. The award is named in memory of Betty M. Vetter, longtime director of the Commission on Professionals in Science and Technology, who served as the first treasurer of WEPAN and was a founding member of its board of directors.

“WEPAN is an impactful member society that hosts the ARC STEM Equity Network, an intersectional effort supporting equity research in STEM,” said Barthelemy. “I am humbled and honored to have my work recognized by an organization that works so tirelessly to enhance inclusion with considerable focus on the various intersections of identity one can have. I’m looking forward to continuing to work with both WEPAN and the ARC STEM Equity Network.”

Barthelemy recently served as co-lead author on a study of LGBT+ physicists that detailed the difficulties, harassment, and other behaviors that induce many to leave the profession. “LGBT+ people often feel shunned, excluded and are continually having to readjust and twist themselves to fit into the physics community,” said Barthelemy. “LGBT+ people are inherently a part of this field. If you want physics to be a place where anyone can participate, we have to talk about these issues.”

Based in Washington, D.C., WEPAN was founded as a nonprofit educational organization in 1990. It is the nation’s first network dedicated to advancing cultures of inclusion and diversity in engineering higher education and workplaces. The WEPAN Awards honor key individuals, programs, and organizations for accomplishments that promote WEPAN’s mission to advance cultures of inclusion and diversity in engineering education and professions.