IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - June 2010 - 35

but I think the same
thing that drew him
to WIE drew him to
students-groups that
traditionally didn't have
strong voices. Maybe
growing up Jewish on
the east coast, he was
used to being in the
minority, so he made
sure everyone got an
equal shake and chance
to succeed. ... In some
Sherman demonstrates the equipment which was a part
ways, he was our conof the Nuclear-Chicago Ånger scintillation camera in 1962.
science, keeping us
doing things the way
we should be doing them. And he was
and staying until his retirement in 2003.
kind of like a second father to a lot of
He developed a prototype of a gamma-ray
us. There were so many of us he really
camera for medical diagnoses (now at
pushed along."
the Smithsonian Institution), an ultraAmong his own four children, Shersonic device to detect invisible defects
man had one daughter, Jacqueline, a
in baby food jars, a beta-ray backscatter
professional jockey turned crime scene
method for identifying counterfeit postinvestigator. "My sister is a great examage and U.S. paper currency, and wrote
ple of his attitude," says David. "If you
more than 50 patent disclosures.
have talent for something, do it." David,
While at Motorola, he often mena computer scientist and genetic engitored engineering technology students.
neer who now teaches at a technical
He was chair of the curricular advisory
institute in Bordeaux, France, recalls a
committee and a mentor for senior projchildhood filled with things like lightects at the DeVry University in DuPage,
frame wood construction, tool and die
Illinois, and he was highly invested in
work, soldering, circuit boards, and the
the Interprofessional Projects Program
scanning transmission electron microat the Illinois Institue of Technology, in
scope in the basement. "We thought
which teams of students from different
this was normal-this is what childisciplines tackle real-world problems.
dren learned from their fathers," he
He served the IEEE Chicago Section for
says. "And he never treated Jackie any
more than 17 years. One of the highdifferent from the rest of us." David
lights, Kelly recalls, was the highly sucestimates there are about three semicessful-and fun-chocolate factory
trailers worth of equipment in his
event he helped organize a couple years
father's home-stuff he had rescued
back, in which young engineers learned
from the salvage dump: vacuum pumps
how chocolate is made and tried experilike the ones he donated to a local high
menting with it.
school teacher, at least seven oscillo"Jack was literally a jack-of-all-trades.
scopes, and much, much, more.
He was very much out in the trenches,
There was no great mystery to Sherrevitalizing chapters and exciting stuman's success. It involved exactly what
dents. And he made sure females got
you would expect-hard work, dediahead; he went out of his way to make
cation, guts, and initiative. But it also
sure they felt supported and included
included early education and access to
and that they weren't intimidated," Kelly
opportunity and resources. That's what
says. "At our last meeting, they wanted
really mattered, he believed. It's what
to have a moment of silence for Jack, and
separated a disadvantaged kid in New
I said no: He would want us to be up and
Jersey from the radar technicians and
vocal and speaking our minds; we should
electronic material engineers of the
jump up and yell. ... He never explained,

world. There were two ways of teaching,
Sherman concluded-what he called
"catechism" and "apprenticeship"-but
apprenticeship, or hands-on learning,
was the only thing that really stuck.
"He thought about teaching, but he
was put off by the way formal teaching is done-where teachers stand up
and talk. It's clear that's what he would
have called catechism, and you can get
it from a book. Wouldn't it be better if
we could all go into the lab, get stuff,
and build things? He would have loved
to find a place where he could do that,"
David says. "WIE is not exactly formal
teaching, but it's all about giving people
resources, helping them, and mentoring
them along. ... Jack did what he could
to make it easier for young women engineers to get access. And he pushed all of
us to make it easier for young women to
get access to engineering, when everyone thinks they should be learning
something else."
-Heather Wax

Global Vision
Atov offers new perspective for 2010

JUNE 2010

Earlier this year, as we were kicking off
2010 around the world, new Women in
Engineering Committee (WIE) Chair
Irena Atov was thinking globally as
well. The beginning of 2010 marked the
start of her role as appointed chair and
Atov brings an exciting list of goals and
visions for WIE members and women
worldwide to the position.

Q: Can you tell us a bit more about your
personal and career background?
A: I grew up in Skopje in Macedonia
and did all of my schooling there, up to
and including my undergraduate studies.
After receiving my bachelor degrees
(telecommunications and electronics),
I went off on a short six-month sojourn
to Melbourne, Australia, to work
as a Research Associate at the Royal
Melbourne Institute of Technology
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/MWIE.2010.936185

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