Nantucket Maria Mitchell Association Welcomes Nancy Ryan Gray, Ph.D. as Featured Guest for December Science Speaker Series

November 29, 2023

NANTUCKET, MA — The Nantucket Maria Mitchell Association (MMA) announces that it will host Nancy Ryan Gray, Ph.D., as a featured presenter for its December Science Speaker Series. Her presentation will take place on Wednesday, December 13 at 7pm. It will be presented via Zoom. This event is free to all.


“The Keys to Success. . . Are Somewhere at the Bottom of My Purse” The title of this presentation would suggest that she is clearly not an expert on the keys to success. Nevertheless, the presentation highlights Nancy Ryan Gray’s circuitous career path, a few of the “lessons” she has learned over the past thirty years, and the “things she knows now” but “wish she'd known then.”


Nancy Ryan Gray is the current President and Chief Executive Officer of the Gordon Research Conferences. Nancy received her B.S. degree in chemistry from the University of Notre Dame and her Ph.D. in Fuel Chemistry from The Pennsylvania State University. Prior to joining GRC, Nancy served as the Director of Membership at the American Chemical Society and as a Research Specialist in Organic Chemistry at Exxon Production Research Company. Nancy has served on the Board of Directors of Ligand Pharmaceuticals since August 2017. Ligand is a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing or acquiring technologies that help pharmaceutical companies in drug discovery, early-stage drug development, and product reformulation. Nancy has also served on the Board of Directors of Slater Technology Fund since March 2021. Slater is a not-for-profit seed fund dedicated to supporting new technology ventures founded by entrepreneurs to build companies that aim to achieve transformational impact in the industries or markets they serve.


Nancy is recognized for her efforts in establishing and growing the Gordon Research Seminar (GRS) initiative to enable graduate students and postdocs to share in the GRC experience. The GRS is a two-day meeting designed specifically for early career scientists to present and discuss research and build collaborative relationships with colleagues. She is also recognized for founding the GRC Power Hour initiative as a forum for conversations to promote inclusion and addressing the challenges women and all underrepresented groups face in achieving equity in science. The 2013 recipient of the Providence Business News Industry Leader Award for Non-Profit Organizations, Nancy is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry, a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and a member of the American Chemical Society. She received an honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from Colby-Sawyer College in 2019 for her leadership and the commitment she has offered to Gordon Research Conferences and the scientific community.


Join Nancy Ryan Gray for this Science Speaker Series Talk on Zoom. Pre-registration is required.


To register for this event, please follow the link below:

https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_AIplF_CMTD6j1uzAjsgmsQ#/registration



This series is generously sponsored by our lead sponsor, Bank of America.


The Maria Mitchell Association is a private non-profit organization. Founded in 1902, the MMA works to preserve the legacy of Nantucket native astronomer, naturalist, librarian, and educator, Maria Mitchell. The Maria Mitchell Association operates two observatories, a natural science museum, an aquarium, a research center, and preserves the historic birthplace of Maria Mitchell. A wide variety of science and history-related programming is offered throughout the year for people of all ages.


                                    ### 


For Immediate Release

November 29, 2023

Contact: Molly Mosscrop, Marketing Director

mmosscrop@mariamitchell.org

Recent Posts

Maria Mitchell In Her Own Words

By Jascin N. Leonardo Finger • April 13, 2026
April 1878. The conference of Woman’s Congress officers met in Washington. Because we had one member in Washington we were invited to meet in that place. I went on at a great expense of time, money and strength . . . . We were in session at least nine hours. I think that more than half of that was used by Mrs. Spencer and Mrs. Sayles. The only motion which I carried through was to pay the Secretary $200 . . . In 1878, that was a long train(s) ride to Washington, DC from Poughkeepsie, NY and Vassar College. If Maria seems perturbed, I am sure she was. As president of the Association for the Advancement of Women, and thus the Congress, she had to be at the meeting. But it appears she did not get much say in the nine hour meeting. This was also a long trip to take when she had another, even longer trip coming up in July of 1878. In that month, she would travel with students and her sister, Phebe, out west to Colorado to view the eclipse and that train and wagon ride I am sure was weighing on her mind – not just the physical trip but making her way for an important eclipse viewing event. JNLF

Raise The Roof!

By Jascin N. Leonardo Finger • April 6, 2026
Well, actually replace the roof! With funding from the Community Preservation Act and the work of Lydon and Sons, Inc. the Mitchell House is getting a new roof. The current one had come to the end of its useful life. A cedar roof can last a long time – longer than asphalt – and is more historically accurate. The roof we are removing was installed in about 1992 – replacing a roof from the 1930s that was not cedar but a combination of materials that actually yes, did last sixty years. The unfortunate issue has arisen that the roofwalk (walk) has to be replaced. This is NOT the original walk – nor that old of a walk. It’s likely from the 1970s or so and has been cobbled at over time. It’s not a functioning walk – no one is allowed on it – but the Mitchell House needs it none the less. Maria Mitchell and her father, William, likely used the walk for astronomical observations – in addition to the yard – but the walk is also protected as part of the preservation easement on the House. Walks – NOT and NEVER called widow’s walks – were used for preventing and putting out chimney fire and roof fires. In a place where wood was expensive and had to be brought from “the main” these were purely utilitarian. What good Quaker (or non-Quaker) would build a platform for his wife to stare out to the harbor to see if her husband was on his way home? The other issue is that the walk was completely resting on the ridge board – and actually was notched to accept the pitch and tip of the ridge board so they couldn’t work around it. I suspect this may have been the ways walks were once built – and also a crafty and smart thinking carpenter who came up with the idea. It makes the walk lower. But between that issue and the age of the walk and then the blizzard of February 2026 that packed gusts over 83 MPH (that’s Category 1 hurricane winds) the walk gave in. Balusters had been knocked out and the railings were loose and pulling away from the posts. So, we will also be working with Barber and Sons to create a new roofwalk – and they agreed to do this for us quickly which is also no small feat given how busy everyone is these days. So from the bottom of the Mitchell House’s heart (and mine) a big thank you to Chris Lydon and Lydon and Sons and crew, Barber and Sons / Beau and Nate Barber, the Community Preservation Committee, and Nantucket Preservation Trust (our easement holder)! JNLF

Keep Calm and Bird On: April 2026

April 1, 2026
“If you don’t look, you don’t see. You have to go and look.” -Edith Andrews
Show More