American Association of University Women names Dr. Raven Baxter a 2022 Woman of Distinction

The American Association of University Women (AAUW) honored Dr. Raven Baxter as a 2022 Woman of Distinction on May 26, 2022. The award came on the final day of AAUW's National Conference for College Women Student Leaders, held online that year.

The honor came as public trust in scientists was falling. In a Pew Research Center survey released in February 2022, 29% of Americans said they had a great deal of confidence in scientists to act in the public's best interests. In November 2020, the figure had been 39%. The science workforce also lagged in who it included. Black workers made up 11% of all employed adults but 9% of workers in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM), Pew reported in 2021.

AAUW listed Baxter as an educator and molecular biologist "known for effortlessly merging science with pop culture." Its announcement cited her hip-hop videos that teach science, among them the "Antibodyody Antibody Song" and "Wipe It Down," and STEMbassy, a science talk show she created. "She joyfully disrupts traditional cultural perceptions about scientists," AAUW wrote.

The announcement also noted the State University of New York Chancellor's Award she received for educating the public about COVID-19. It named her post as Director of Diversity Initiatives in the University of California, Irvine School of Biological Sciences. And it described her NASA TechRise Student Challenge video. The video asked students in grades 6 to 12 to build and test a design based on her hypothesis about a maraca in microgravity.

The 2022 class had three honorees. Baxter was recognized with Kristin Henning, a Georgetown Law professor and youth defender. The third was Dr. Pat Stocker, a former president of AAUW Maryland, whom AAUW named its Maryland Woman of Distinction. The awards session opened the last day of the three-day virtual conference. Its keynote speaker was Nikole Hannah-Jones, the Pulitzer Prize-winning creator of the 1619 Project.

AAUW traces its start to 1881, when a small group of women college graduates banded together. Its founders were Marion Talbot and Ellen Swallow Richards. AAUW calls Richards the first woman to earn a degree in chemistry. The group set out to open careers and higher education to women, according to AAUW's history. Its research has included "Why So Few? Women in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics."

AAUW has named Women of Distinction since 1985, typically four to ten each year. Its first class included Shirley Malcom, then head of education and human resources at the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Later honorees include molecular biologist Lydia Villa-Komaroff, NASA astronaut Pamela Melroy and Black Girls Code founder Kimberly Bryant.

Baxter, known online as Dr. Raven the Science Maven, had earned her Ph.D. from the University at Buffalo that February. Her doctoral research focused on science communication.

AAUW's announcement of the 2022 honorees and its list of every Woman of Distinction since 1985 are preserved in the Internet Archive.