Printer friendly version

Enter, Albert named 2003 Outstanding New Mexico Women by State Commission

Jane Enter and Diane Albert, technical staff members at the Laboratory, have been selected to receive a 2003 Governor's Award for Outstanding New Mexico Women.

Enter and Albert are two of 20 New Mexico women to be selected for the honor in the 18th annual competition, sponsored by the New Mexico Commission on the Status of Women and the Governor's Office. For Albert, the selection is her third; she previously received this award in 1996 and 2000.

Enter and Albert will be recognized at the Governor's Award for Outstanding New Mexico Women banquet May 3 at the Hyatt Regency in Albuquerque. Tickets for the banquet can be purchased by calling the Commission on the Status of Women at (800) 432-9168.

The Commission on the Status of Women annually honors women from around the state who are actively involved in their communities, are leaders in their profession or occupation and have worked to implement positive change in their community.

Of the 20 women recognized annually, two are selected for induction to the New Mexico Women's Hall of Fame in September.

Enter is a technical staff member in the Laboratory's Chemistry (C) Division and has worked at Los Alamos since 1993. She has a bachelor's degree in marine science and geology from the University of Miami; a master's degree in geology from the University of Georgia; and a specialist in science education degree also from the University of Georgia.

"I am flattered to be included among women in New Mexico who [the commission feels has made] a difference. One of the reasons I like being in [the Chemistry] Division is its enthusiastic support of education and mentoring programs. That's a part of what makes it a forward looking division," Enter said.

Enter was nominated for the award by the New Mexico Network for Women in Science and Engineering. In the nomination form, the organization said of Enter: "Janie A. Enter has worked tirelessly to encourage girls and young women, especially in New Mexico, to pursue training and careers in science, engineering, and math. These are fields that traditionally have attracted primarily men.

"She has provided mentoring and support to hundreds of young people, especially females, through formal and informal mentoring and educational programs at Los Alamos National Laboratory and elsewhere. Janie [also] has been unusually active as a supporter and unpaid volunteer for a number of women's organizations, both in New Mexico and nationally. She does all this while balancing the demands of being a scientist and a single mother of two teenage daughters."

Enter is a member of the Laboratory's Expanding Your Horizons workshop to introduce school-age girls to math, science and engineering and is a past member of Los Alamos' Women's Diversity Working Group. She has coordinated the Laboratory's Summer Environmental Engineering Institute and; helped organize Los Alamos' Corporate Challenge team; and is a member of the New Mexico League of Women Voters and the Los Alamos Women in Science organizations.

Albert has bachelor's degrees in metallurgical engineering and math education from Ohio State University and master's and doctoral degrees in metallurgical engineering and materials science from Carnegie Mellon University. Albert has worked at the Laboratory since 1993. She works in Los Alamos' Materials Science and Technology (MST) Division.

"I was surprised and flattered when the New Mexico Network of Women in Science and Engineering called me and said they wanted to nominate me for the award. I can't believe I won. There are so many deserving women in New Mexico," said Albert.

Albert has been an active member of the Los Alamos Women in Science chapter of the New Mexico Network of Women in Science and Engineering for the past 10 years, serving as a workshop presenter to both students and teachers in Los Alamos and Albuquerque. Albert also volunteers with the New Mexico Math, Engineering, Science and Achievement program and on her own to take hands-on science activities to Northern New Mexico schools.

Elected to the Los Alamos County Council in 2000, Albert has been an active member of the Los Alamos League of Women Voters for 10 years. She also serves as the Los Alamos County representative to the Northern Rio Grande Resource Development and Conservation association; the New Mexico Municipal League's Public Infrastructure and Communications Committee; and the New Mexico Association of Counties, serving as Commissioners Affiliate Treasurer and on the association's Board of Directors.

Albert is on the Advisory Board of the Tri-Area Association for Economic Development, an organization which works to provide more employment opportunities and appropriate economic development in Northern New Mexico.

She serves on the Board of Trustees of the Friends of Bandelier National Monument and the National Council of the National Parks and Conservation Association.

Last year, the Santa Fe New Mexican newspaper named Albert one of the "10 Who Made a Difference in Northern New Mexico" and also was honored by Ohio State University's Department of Materials Science and Engineering as a recipient of the department's Distinguished Alumnus Award.

She is founder and president of the Los Alamos County Cyclists' Coalition; treasurer of the New Mexico Bicycle Coalition; and serves on the Laboratory's Pedestrian and Bicycle Subcommittee to the Traffic Safety Committee. Albert was appointed to serve on New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson's New Mexico Economic Development Department Transition Team, and was recently appointed by the governor to the Space Science Museum Commission.

In 1997, Albert received a resident fellowship from the National Academy of Engineering and spent six months in Washington, D.C. Through this fellowship, Albert worked with the associate director of the National Academy of Engineering program office on "The Impact of Academic Research on Industrial Performance: A Multi-Industry Study," a project funded by the Alfred Sloan Foundation.

For information about the New Mexico Commission on the Status of Women, go to http://www.state.nm.us/womenscommission/ online.

-- Steve Sandoval

Other Headlines