Kaye Husbands Fealing, dean of the Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts, delivered the keynote address, Diversity of Opinion: A Catalyst for Change, for the 2021 Women in Sustainability Leadership (WSLA) Awards on May 19, 2021. 

She focused on the visibility and representation of women and other underrepresented groups and how improved diversity in ideas and opinions can lead to innovation and breakthroughs in the sustainability realm. 

The hosting organization, the WSLA Alumnae Group, is a group of more than 85 previous award winners, “influential women trailblazers,” that have established a profession of making the world a more sustainable place. The awards were sponsored by HMTX Industries, Universal Fibers, Sustainable Design Consulting, and Verandi Partners. 

Husbands Fealing is a leader in examining issues of diversity in STEM fields and academia. She is a member of the National Science Foundation’s Committee on Equal Opportunities in Science and Engineering (CEOSE), which advises the NSF on ways to broaden opportunities for women, minorities, and persons with disabilities in science, engineering, and related fields. Her research includes topics such as the need to broaden the diversity of opportunities in STEM. She was co-organizer of the 2016 symposium on the science of broadening participation, which was sponsored by NSF. In 2019, she co-authored an award-winning paper that investigated gender-based pay gaps in U.S. federal science agencies.