What if it wasn’t celebrities we worshipped?
How would that change what we strove for? And what we value as a culture?
This question is the premise for General Electric’s latest advertisement titled “What if Scientists were Celebrities?”
It begins with a young girl unwrapping a gift at a birthday party. But it’s not Barbie. It’s a Millie Dresselhaus doll.
Girls wear Dresselhaus costumes for Halloween, and news programs invite her to be interviewed.
There are Dresselhaus murals, and women celebrate academic victories in physics.
Boys chase Dresselhaus down the street asking for a photograph, while women have her face printed on their t-shirts.
She's on the front cover of In Style and her lectures are sold out.
But, there's one shameful question we're left with. Who is Millie Dresselhaus?
When women are scientists, let's not call them 'weather girls'. Post continues below.
Dresselhaus is the first woman to win the National Medal of Science in Engineering. She's been dubbed the "queen of carbon science".
And no one knows her name.
So General Electrics are committed to not only imagining a world where brilliant women are the stars, but to creating it.
They have set a goal of having 20,000 women in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) roles by 2020, and securing 50:50 representation for all entry level programs.
And knowing names like Millie Dresselhaus, is the perfect place to start.