School of Engineering Dean Linda Abriola was recognized as one of 500 influential 20th- century women in the sciences with an entry in a recently published encyclopedia.
"American Women of Science since 1900," (ABC-CLIO/Greenwood), published in October of 2010, honors women whose achievements may have been previously overlooked or undervalued, according to a Dec. 31 press release.
"I'm very honored to be included in this encyclopedia with so many remarkable people; it's very humbling," Abriola said.
The website of the encyclopedia's publisher describes the two-volume book as a record of the achievements of modern female scientists despite their being underrepresented in science professions.
The encyclopedia provides "a rich historical context for understanding their achievements and the way they changed the practice of science," according to the publisher's description.
Abriola said she has a personal understanding of the value of female leaders in science.
"As a young person, I never had any female role models in engineering and I just had to persevere because I thought it was possible," she said.
"It's great that they're trying to identify more women because I think as women we need more role models who have contributed and succeeded."
Abriola was the only woman in the civil engineering department in her graduating class at Drexel University. She worked as a project engineer for Procter and Gamble following her undergraduate studies, and received her Ph.D. and masters degrees in Civil and Environmental Engineering at Princeton University.
Her teaching career began at the University of Michigan as an assistant professor in 1984, where she was the first woman on staff in her department.
She later became the Horace Williams King Collegiate Professor in Environmental Engineering at Michigan, and joined the Tufts faculty as Dean of Engineering in 2003.
Abriola's colleagues praised her achievements as a scientist and as an administrator.
"She's an excellent engineer and an excellent scientist," Associate Dean of Civil and Environmental Engineering Lewis Edgers (E ‘66) said of Abriola. "The honors she's receiving are well-earned and as dean she brings a very strong vision to the field of engineering and excellent administrative skills."
Abriola has been a member of many academic councils and committees, and was the first female professor inducted for civil engineering into the governing council of the National Academy of Engineering.
Abriola's research centers on the development and testing of mathematical equations that describe the movements of contaminants in the environment.
Abriola's interest in the topic was inspired by the Love Canal disaster of the 1970s, in which a community built over a Niagara Falls, New York landfill faced a public health disaster after it was found to be heavily contaminated with toxins.
"Love Canal was a really serious problem that happened while I was in graduate school, and that's how I got interested in this field," Abriola said.
Abriola has continued to work on her research at Tufts.
Matt Becker, a masters of science candidate who works in Abriola's lab, said that much of the fundamental literature and basic concepts in the field came from Abriola, her students and her labs.
Becker stressed the dual importance of Abriola's contributions to both the scientific community as a whole and the engineering student body at Tufts.
"Not only is she a great influential scientist but she's also a really great teacher. It's been a really great privilege working with her," Becker said. "Every time I talk to her is an opportunity to learn more."
