GenderInSITE Welcomes New Acting Director, Prof. Alice Abreu
July 08, 2015
On May 1, GenderInSITE was delighted to welcome Brazilian sociologist and long-term science and gender specialist Alice Abreu as its new Acting Director.
GenderInSITE is delighted to announce that Brazilian sociologist and long-term science and gender specialist Alice Abreu has been selected as the new Acting Director of the program. Professor Abreu was elected at the March 2015 Steering Committee meeting held in Sussex (UK) and started work on 1 May.
Speaking after the meeting, Prof. Abreu said, "I am very excited about this new appointment to direct GenderInSITE. There is so much work to be done. As we look at global development challenges and how science and technology can help address them, there is often one piece missing — and that is gender. Policies and programmes that do not take into account the inputs and needs of women as well as men cannot ultimately be successful. At GenderInSITE, I look forward to finding new ways to broaden understanding of this issue."
Professor Abreu comes to GenderInSITE with a wealth of experience leading regional and global scientific organizations. She worked for the International Council for Science (ICSU) as the Director of the Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean from 2007 to 2011. She was also Regional Coordinator of the ICSURio+20 Initiative, working with the ICSU team to prepare and organize the scientific activities of the Rio+20 Conference in 2012.
Prof. Abreu received a PhD in Social Sciences from the University of São Paulo, Brazil in 1980, and an MSc in Sociology from the London School of Economics , (UK) in 1971. Until 2005, she was a full Professor of Sociology at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro and has published extensively on the sociology of work and gender. She has also held a number of esteemed positions within the academic community of Brazil and internationally, which include the Vice Presidency of the National Research Council for Scientific and Technological Development of Brazil, and Director of the Office of Education, Science and Technology of the Organization of American States in Washington, D.C.
Prof. Abreu has been the recipient of a number of prestigious awards, including the Ordem Nacional do Mérito Científico of Brazil in 2001; the Palmes Académiques of theMinistère de la Jeunesse, de l’Éducation Nationale et de la Recherche, République Française, in 2003. She was awarded the Florestan Fernandes Prize for Sociology in 2009 and the Award for Academic Excellence Antonio Flavio Pierucci Sociology in 2013.
Alice Abreu replaces outgoing Director Sophia Huyer. Dr. Huyer has taken up a new post as Gender and Social Inclusion Research Leader at the Research Program for Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security at the Consultative Group for International Agricultural Research. GenderInSITE is grateful for the hard work, commitment and energy Dr. Huyer has dedicated to founding and leading GenderInSITE over the past two years .
