The Chemical Heritage Foundation (CHF) proudly announces the release of The Catalyst Film Series: Women in Chemistry funded by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation and created by CHF. The documentary-style film series, accessible at www.chemheritage.org/womeninchemistry, celebrates the catalytic effect that extraordinary women have had in chemistry and endeavors to encourage young women to pursue the study of STEM programs and the sciences in particular. You can view a trailer of the film series at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PqkCnaoYe3k.

The women featured in these films have worn the hats of student, researcher, wife, professor, advisor, mother, pilot and marketer. They are:

•       Kathryn Hach-Darrow, cofounder of the Hach Chemical Company
•       Mary L. Good, former president of the American Chemical Society, undersecretary for technology in the U.S. Department of Commerce under President Bill Clinton, and recipient of the Priestley Medal
•       Uma Chowdhry, retired senior vice president and chief science and technology officer of DuPont
•       Nancy Chang, cofounder and former CEO of the biopharmaceutical firm Tanox
•       Mildred Cohn, first female president of the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
•       Stephanie Kwolek, former research associate at DuPont and patent holder for Kevlar®
•       Paula Hammond, David H. Koch Professor in engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.