The Women & Engineering Challenge

Michele Liebman, BS ’86, and Jan Holloway, MS ’83, established the Women & Engineering Challenge with the hope of inspiring alumni and friends to support diversity and encourage a strong community for women associated with the McKelvey School of Engineering.

How Women & Engineering fund gifts are used

Your gift will enhance equity in the McKelvey School of Engineering by providing a supportive community, establishing connections, and promoting career development opportunities for students, alumnae, faculty, and staff. Women & Engineering fund contributions: 

• Provide funding for student organizations that support women in engineering.
• Help attract qualified students from diverse backgrounds, regardless of their financial circumstances. 
• Fund conference attendance, career advising, and tutoring.
• Expand undergraduate internship and job prospects for female engineering students.
• Increase networking and mentorship opportunities.

Together we can advance the success of women engineers and inspire the next generation.

Jan Holloway, MS ’83

About the donors

Michele Liebman earned a Bachelor of Science in technology and information management from Washington University in 1986. She supports the Women & Engineering executive committee and has been a William Greenleaf Eliot Society member since 2010. 

Liebman received the Alumni Achievement Award in 2015 and the Dean’s Award in 2018. “I believe engineering skills and talents are gender neutral. I want to see an end to the idea that a woman is hired into an engineering role because of her gender and not her talent. That is why I support the Women & Engineering Program,” says Liebman. 

Jan Holloway earned a Master of Science in applied mathematics and computer science from Washington University in 1983. Holloway serves on the McKelvey School of Engineering National Council for McKelvey School of Engineering. She was named one of the St. Louis Business Journal’s 25 Most Influential Women in Business in 2000. She received the Alumni Achievement Award in 2010 and the Dean’s Award in 2018.

A message from Dean Aaron Bobick

Women & Engineering was established as an organization for engineering alumnae to support each other; inspire and mentor our women students; and help shape the McKelvey School of Engineering at Washington University in St. Louis. As we continue to strengthen these engagements, I am pleased to present the Women & Engineering Challenge in support of a fund that will enable us to enhance the experience of our female students during their time on campus and broaden the opportunities that we are able to offer them. 

We are deeply grateful to Jan Holloway and Michele Liebman for embracing these goals and providing this generous challenge, and we encourage alumni and friends to join us in this important endeavor. 

We envision the Women & Engineering organization will develop and promote programming to provide a supportive community for our engineering alumnae, establish connections to women student organizations within the school, and also participate in STEM outreach targeting female students of all ages. Women & Engineering is a priority that will position McKelvey Engineering as a leader in higher education that supports a diverse, open, and inclusive environment. 

I encourage you to participate in the Women & Engineering program as a peer, mentor, and donor. Accepting this challenge and joining the William Greenleaf Eliot Society will not only enrich the educational experience of our female students but also demonstrate your commitment to celebrate female engineers who paved the way and support future trailblazers in engineering.