As one of Gannon University’s three female deans, Sarah Ewing, Ph.D., holds an important role within the Morosky College of Health Professions and Sciences. Being the female dean of a college wasn’t something common when Ewing was a student. During her undergraduate program at Penn State Behrend and graduate program at North Carolina State University, female faculty members were scarce. However, this didn’t stop her from finding female mentors. “I tended to gravitate toward female mentors as a graduate student and had several really good ones outside of my program,” Ewing said. Even when Ewing started at Gannon, she said that there were very few female faculty in the sciences and math programs, but that has changed. Ewing herself was the first recipient of a grant that, thanks to Elisa Konieczko, Ph.D., Gannon received to support female faculty who were tenure track. “I have seen more initiatives that support female faculty through tenure-track positions be successful, and I have seen more female faculty be hired in the sciences,” she said. Ewing said that her biggest female inspiration is her grandmother, who was the first female chemical engineer to graduate from Grove City College. She went on to work at PPG in Pittsburgh but had to give up her career once she had a family, as the two did not mix at the time. Still, she exemplified her strong work ethic and intelligence in the domestic sphere. This has inspired Ewing to use her leadership position to uplift other women. “As a female leader, I have an opportunity to have an impact on all of the women who are coming behind me and to help educate the male students and any other group that’s not represented in the sciences or health professions,” Ewing said. - Madeline Bruce, Features Editor