STEM Essay Contest Winners Recognized By AAUW McLean Area Branch

The McLean Area Branch of AAUW sent this press release on March 19.

MCLEAN, VA — The winners of the 2025 STEM Essay Contest sponsored by the McLean Area Branch of AAUW (American Association of University Women) were announced and recognized during the Branch potluck dinner held on March 18th at the McLean Community Center. The contest was open to 7th and 8th grade students (girls and boys) at six local public and private schools. The students were asked to discover and publicize women including women of color, who made a difference in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) fields, but who received little or no recognition for their contributions while they were alive. Strong preference was given to essays about women who are not well known even today. Each essay described one woman’s contribution and its impact, as well as why the student selected the woman.

The winners of the contest are:

1st Place: Aanya Palit, Cooper Middle School (8th Grade) Honorable Mention: Claire Broderdorf, Longfellow Middle School (7th Grade) Honorable Mention: Ridheema Dusange, Luther Jackson Middle School (7th Grade) Honorable Mention: Clara Kosoff, Cooper Middle School (7th Grade) Honorable Mention: Yonatan Nikolich, Longfellow Middle School (7th Grade)

As part of the awards ceremony, the 1st place winner, Aany Palit, read her essay on Rajeshwari Chatterjee. She was one of India’s first female engineers, who was a pioneer in microwave engineering, a field that revolutionized modern telecommunications and defense systems. Other women who were the subjects of the winning essays were Dr. Susan La Flesche Picotte, Gladys West, Esther Lederberg, and Eleanor Griffin Dickson.

Fourteen volunteers from our branch served as judges: Janet Alejandro, Pam Bacher, Lynn Gutter, Christina Hamilton, Myrtle Hendricks-Corrales, Sherry Joslin, Mafalda Marrocco, Nina McVeigh, Tom McVeigh, Judy Page, Ruth Nowjack-Raymer, Diana Parsell, Caroline Pickens, and Cheryl Williams. The essay contest was managed by a steering committee, consisting of Myrtle Hendricks and Diana Parsell together with Judy Page, STEM Chair.

For more information on the McLean Area Branch, visit the branch website at http://mclean-va.aauw.net.