In honor of Women’s History Month, Her Campus at Brown is highlighting ten female Brown alumnae:
- Lillian Moller Gillbreth (Ph.D. 1915)
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Lillian Moller Gillbreth received her Ph.D. from Brown in 1915 in applied psychology, in which she combined psychology and industrial management. Gillbreth was one of the first working female engineers, and she and her husband, Frank Gillbreth, jointly ran a business and engineering consulting firm and published numerous books and papers.
- Lois Lowry (1956)
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Lois Lowry attended Pembroke College (which merged with Brown in 1971) from 1954 to 1956. In 1956, at age 19, Lowry left Pembroke College to marry her husband, Donald Lowry. Lowry is best known for her children’s books Number the Stars and The Giver, both recipients of the Newbery Medal.
- Janet Yellen (1967)
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Janet Yellen graduated summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from Pembroke College with a degree in economics in 1967. Yellen went on to earn her Ph.D. from Yale University and work in academia until she was appointed to the Federal Reserve Board of Governors by President Bill Clinton in 1994. In 2013, Yellen was appointed Chair of the Federal Reserve and currently serves as the Secretary of the Treasury under President Joe Biden. Yellen is the first female Chair of the Federal Reserve and Secretary of the Treasury.
- Susan Bennett (1971)
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Susan Bennett enrolled in Pembroke College in 1967 but graduated with a degree in classics from Brown University in 1971 after the two schools merged. At Brown, Bennett was a member of the Chattertocks a capella group. Bennett is a voice actress whose voice has been used in various advertisements, including Ford, Coca-Cola, McDonald’s, and Best Buy. Bennett is best known for voicing Siri.
- Maggie Hassan (1980)
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Senator Maggie Hassan graduated from Brown University in 1980 with a degree in History. In 2012, Maggie Hassan was elected Governor of New Hampshire; in 2016, she was elected to the Senate. Hassan won re-election in 2022. She is one of only two women in US history elected governor and senator.
- Jessica Meir (1999)
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Jessica Meir graduated magna cum laude from Brown in 1999 with a degree in biology. She went on to earn her Ph.D. and work at NASA and worked on NASA mission 61/62 as a flight engineer. She was one of two women to participate in an all-female spacewalk.
- Melanie Whelan (1999)
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Melanie Whelan graduated from Brown in 1999 with bachelor’s degrees in engineering and economics. Whelan has worked for various notable companies, including Equinox and Virgin USA. Most significantly, she served as the CEO of SoulCycle from 2015-2019. During her tenure as CEO, Whelan rapidly expanded the company to have 100 studios worldwide.
- Madeline Miller (2000, 2001)
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Madeline Miller received bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Brown in 2000 and 2001, respectively, in classics. Miller is best known for her novels The Song of Achilles and Circe, which feature retellings of classical mythological stories. For her work, Miller received the Orange Prize for Fiction.
- Emma Watson (2014)
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Emma Watson graduated from Brown in 2014 with a bachelor’s degree in English literature. Watson is best known for her acting and role as Hermione Granger in the Harry Potter movie series. Watson’s other notable works include The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Beauty and the Beast, and Little Women. Watson is also a UN Women Goodwill Ambassador.
- Cara Mund (2016)
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Cara Mund graduated from Brown in 2016 with a business, entrepreneurship, and organizations degree. At Brown, Mund served as the president of her sorority, Kappa Delta. In 2018, the North Dakota native won the Miss America Pageant. Mund received her JD from Harvard Law School and became involved in politics in North Dakota.
We love to see it and we’re SO inspired by these phenomenal trailblazers! Happy Women’s History month!