Vassie Ware provides support and mentorship for women in STEM

Vassie Ware is a molecular biology professor at Lehigh University, who has made it her mission to inspire students who are typically underrepresented in the STEM field. Ware has been at Lehigh since 1985, and has been a positive mentor to many students during here time here. (Marlee Deustch/B&W Staff)

Vassie Ware’s grandmother always told her it took a lot of people to move one person forward. Ware watched her grandmother help others in their community, as if it were second nature.

Ware knew that’s what she was meant to do in her life, too.

Ware, a professor of molecular biology at Lehigh, dedicates her time to research and teaching as well as mentoring and inspiring students, especially those underrepresented in the STEM discipline.

“She’s given me quite a number of professional opportunities,” said Catherine Mageeney, a graduate student and doctoral fellowship candidate who came to Lehigh to work with Ware. “She’s sent me to meetings to present my work as well as helped me write. She’s given a lot of time and feedback on critical points throughout my Ph.D. career.”

Ware said she came to Lehigh in 1985 to advance her professional career with research that would make a difference and become involved in an effort to diversify the community.

“I know I’ve made a difference in some people’s lives with regard to how they think about themselves, how they will help others, how they can even appreciate what they have,” Ware said.

Ware said the most important aspect for her was to inspire — not just in regards to biology, but also in making good decisions and being kind. 

Mageeney said her strong relationship with Ware provides her with a role model and aspirations for her future career. She said Ware has accomplished so much at Lehigh while being a positive figure.

“Teaching is about inspiring people to be excited about finding themselves or finding themselves in the discipline in which you work and going forward with that,” Ware said. “That, to me, is the greatest of accomplishments.”

Isabel Amaya, ’19, said she met Ware in the Rapidly Accelerated Research Experience program at Lehigh and formed a relationship with her. Amaya described Ware as a mother figure who truly cares for her students and research.

Unlike others studying biology in college, Ware knew she did not want to go to medical school. She said she wanted the opportunity to teach, but also to research, explore and discover.

She said she wanted to convey her excitement for the subject to someone else because to her, that was the true gift of teaching. She had teaching experience as a graduate student, so becoming a professor felt natural for her.

Amaya said Ware pushes her toward success and gives her the space to grow and learn as a biochemistry major. She said she’s worked with Ware since freshman year, receiving hands-on experience that influenced her to be more open-minded and explore her interests.

Amaya said she previously never thought she would want to be a professor, but now she aspires to become one because of Ware.

“I didn’t think I would want to work in a lab one day,” Amaya said. “(Ware and Mageeney) inspire me to be a better scientist and to figure things out in the lab and come up with new research and new ideas.” 

Though Ware said she did not particularly experience stigma as a woman of color as a graduate student, she was discriminated against as a woman of science. She said she received inappropriate comments from her thesis adviser and had challenges working with professors and established scientists. She speculated they viewed female scientists as unable to excel because they believed women were easily distracted by other thoughts.

“There weren’t a lot of tenured women at all, so I didn’t have a lot of models, and I knew a lot of the women that were in the department were not really happy with the positions that they had,” Ware said. “They were all Caucasian women, not women of color.”

Ware said the more prominent issue that existed in the sciences was gender, not race. Mistreatment did not deter her in her job or advancement in the institution. She said growing up in the South, she witnessed grievances her parents had to endure and obstacles they had to overcome. She was accustomed to getting past difficulties in order to thrive. 

When she first arrived at Lehigh, Ware said she noticed a lot of homogeneity at the university. She saw students wearing the same clothing, as if it came out of one catalog. She said the campus has since grown with increased cultural diversity and differing points of view, and student engagement with Lehigh and the South Side has also improved significantly.

Ware said Lehigh has become a stronger, more palatable place for different types of people. She said the university is a place to learn and discuss opinions and issues openly, even if people are in disagreement.

Ware loves her job because she’s involved in an exciting community that is always changing. She views her role and work at Lehigh as a whole process, not just a single task.

“I truly believe that (making a difference) is going to magnify because that person has the opportunity to inspire someone else, and it just grows and grows in that way,” she said. “That’s the thing that keeps me going.”