March 2024
Indra Nooyi
Indra Nooyi, an Indian-born American businesswoman, played an instrumental role in transforming PepsiCo’s traditional soft drink brands into healthier products and environmentally sustainable practices. Serving as the company’s CEO from 2006-2018, Nooyi was the first woman of colour and the first immigrant to be chief executive of a Fortune 50 company. At the time she assumed her CEO role, she was 1 of 10 women that was leading a Fortune 500 company.
Born in a middle-class family in Madras (now called Chennai), India, in 1958, Nooyi excelled in school and developed interests considered unconventional for girls of her time and place, such as STEM, competing in cricket, and playing guitar in a female rock band. Nooyi earned her MBA from the Indian Institute of Management Calcutta, and after starting her career as a business strategist, was convinced she was ready to venture out to seek a broader global perspective. She decided to move to the US and obtained a Master’s degree in Public and Private Management from the Yale School of Management in 1978. Although it was unheard of for women at the time to go oversee alone, her parents supported her ambitions. Upon continuing her career in the US, she developed a reputation for being a remarkable strategic thinker. She joined PepsiCo in 1994 and quickly ascended through the ranks, focusing on the company’s global and long-term strategy. Nooyi became well-known for orchestrating the Three-Pillar initiative under PepsiCo’s new mantra, “Performance with a Purpose,” which centred on promoting healthier food and beverage alternatives, reducing corporate environmental footprint, and fostering a more inclusive workplace culture while strengthening community engagement.
In her recently published memoir, My Life in Full (2021), Nooyi shares invaluable insights on the importance of work-life balance within society and underscores the crucial role that companies must play. She advocates for prioritizing paid leave, improved work flexibility, and advancing women in the workplace. Nooyi candidly discusses the unrealistic expectations imposed on female executives and strongly advocates for addressing societal issues, such as gender bias, pay inequality, and care infrastructures, to pave the way for a more inclusive and productive economy.
You can learn more about Indra Nooyi here: https://www.indranooyi.com/meetindra
February 2024
Dr. Joseph Francisco
In 1977, Dr. Francisco earned his B.S. in Chemistry from the University of Texas at Austin. He went on to receive his Ph.D. in Chemistry from MIT in 1983. From there, he went on to work as a research fellow at Cambridge University and back at MIT as a provost postdoctoral fellow. Dr. Francisco continued his career in academia with an appointment as assistant professor of chemistry at Wayne State University in 1986 and worked at California Institute of Technology as a visiting associate in the Planetary Science Division in 1991. In 1993 he transferred to the Jet Propulsion Laboratory as a John Simon Guggenheim Fellow. After moving to Purdue University and becoming a full professor, he was appointed the William E. Moore Distinguished Professor of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences and Chemistry in 2005. He is currently the President's Distinguished Professor of Earth and Environmental Science and Professor of Chemistry at the University of Pennsylvania where he works on cloud surface chemistry and acid rain. During his career he also worked in the Naval Research Advisory Committee and served as president and board member of the American Chemical Society and the National Organization for the Professional Advancement of Black Chemists. From 2010 to 2012 he was appointed by President Obama to serve on the President’s Committee on the National Medal of Science. Dr. Francisco is a fellow of many organizations including the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Physical Society, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and the American Chemical Society. Most recently he has won the RCS 2022 Centenary Prize.
You can learn more about Dr. Franciso from his digital interviews here and from the RCS prize page here
You can connect further on LinkedIn here
January 2024
Professor Julia Ortony
Prof. Ortony received her B.S. in Chemistry from the University of Minnesota in 2005, and her Ph.D. in Materials Chemistry from U.C. Santa Barbara in 2011. Following her Ph.D., Prof. Ortony conducted postdoctoral research under Samuel Stupp at Northwestern University. Prof. Ortony joined the faculty of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at the MIT in 2016, where she holds the Samuel Goldblith Chair. Her group specializes in molecular design, dynamics characterization, and engineering of supramolecular nanomaterials to address health and environmental challenges. Prof. Ortony is the recipient of the Best Graduate Advisor Award from her department, the Bose Fellowship, and she is a recipient of the National Science Foundation Early Career Award.
At the MIT, Professor Julia Ortony is a member of the MIT School of Engineering Faculty Gender Committee. The School of Engineering Faculty Gender Equity Committee is made up of faculty representing all School of Engineering departments, including the Institute for Medical Engineering and Science (IMES), and reports to the Dean of Engineering. The committee is charged with monitoring and reporting to the Dean on the status of gender equity for faculty in the School. The committee also provides recommendations on best practices to the Dean and facilitates effective dissemination of relevant activities and policies to faculty within their respective units. Prof. Ortony’s research group participated in the American Chemical Society LGBTQ+ research symposium where her students presented, and Professor Ortony attended. Professor Ortony is an organizer of the Systems Chemistry Gordon Research Conference Power Hour, which is about gender in this research area.
You can learn more about Dr. Ortony by visiting her lab website: https://ortonylab.com/