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An Indiana County student attending ÑÇÉ«Ó°¿â received the 2024 Patricia Hilliard Robertson Memorial Scholarship for Outstanding Female Science Student.

Cleo McMahan, a biology major from Indiana, was selected for the scholarship, which was presented April 8 during ÑÇÉ«Ó°¿â’s annual STEM Women’s Summit, highlighting current women scientists and alumnae working in the science fields.

The Hilliard Robertson scholarship was established as a living legacy for Dr. Hilliard Robertson, a 1985 graduate of ÑÇÉ«Ó°¿â from Homer City, who died May 24, 2001, in Houston from injuries sustained in the crash of a private plane at Wolfe Air Park in Manvel, Texas. Hilliard Robertson had been assigned as a crew-support astronaut for the Expedition Two crew that was preparing for service aboard the International Space Station in 2001.

Hilliard Robertson received the Distinguished Alumni Award from ÑÇÉ«Ó°¿â in 2000.

McMahan, a 2020 graduate of Indiana High School, is the daughter of Mark and Bonnie McMahan. She has been recognized for academic excellence by her department. Upon her graduation in the spring, she plans to attend West Liberty University to pursue a master’s degree in zoo science.

“I am honored to accept this award,” McMahan said. “I cannot emphasize how much I have enjoyed my time here at ÑÇÉ«Ó°¿â. The staff here is outstanding and has been more than willing to work with me to make sure all my goals are accomplished.”

The award is presented by family members of the late Hilliard Robertson, including the late Hilliard Robertson’s mother, Ilse Hilliard of Homer City, who was a longtime faculty member at ÑÇÉ«Ó°¿â in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology.

“This scholarship is a living memorial that keeps Patty’s memory and legacy alive,” Ilsa Hilliard said. “It also represents her values, education, and a life full of activities and adventure. I find it deeply, profoundly moving that ÑÇÉ«Ó°¿â continues to highlight her in this way. It is very meaningful.”

In December 2023, the late Hilliard Robertson was honored with the naming of a Cygnus spacecraft. The spacecraft, constructed by Northrop Grumman, was named NG-20: the S.S. Patricia “Patty” Hilliard Robertson.

“It’s our tradition to name each Cygnus spacecraft after a significant figure in human spaceflight,” company officials said. “Dr. Robertson was selected in honor of her accomplishments as a space medicine fellow, flight instructor and pilot, and her service as a NASA astronaut.”

The S.S. Patricia “Patty” Hilliard Robertson was launched on January 30 and arrived at the International Space Station on February 1, where it was installed on the Earth-facing port of the Unity module. The spaceship is the twentieth Northrop Grumman commercial resupply services flight to the space station for NASA.

Patricia Hilliard Robertson

The Patricia Hilliard Robertson Center for Aviation Medicine at the Indiana Regional Medical Center was named in her honor in 2009.

The STEM Women’s Summit is the opening event for the university’s annual Research Appreciation Week. It included a poster session of student research projects and networking opportunities followed by a panel discussion with four women scientists, including two alumnae: 2018 ÑÇÉ«Ó°¿â graduate Jakyra Simpson, science communicator, a.k.a. “Ky the Chemist;” 2018 ÑÇÉ«Ó°¿â graduate Laura Wentworth, biologist and account executive at IntePros; Erica Tamburo, biomedical engineer and president of the Pittsburgh chapter of GetWITit; and ÑÇÉ«Ó°¿â dean emerita of the John J. and Char Kopchick College of Science and Mathematics, Deanne Snavely.

Simpson, a 2017 recipient of the Hilliard Robertson scholarship, presented her Sneaker Art Workshop on April 8 to students; she designed the program as a new way to teach chemistry using hip-hop and sneaker culture.

She is the founder of STEAM Sneakerheadz, an education consulting business that offers these workshops along with other science outreach initiatives. She is also the author of the free open education resource The Chemistry of Shoe Game: Using Sneaker Culture to Teach Science Technology Engineering Art and Mathematics (STEAM).

In March, she was one of 12 innovators selected as a TEDx Morehouse College speaker. This program features dynamic speakers focused on “For the Culture” for under-represented, marginalized, or disadvantaged groups toward making a better society in Atlanta and beyond.

Her program was sponsored by the ÑÇÉ«Ó°¿â Ambassadors, the university’s student-alumni group, as part of the group’s Conversations with Alumni speaker series. Funding for the event has been provided through the Office of Social Equity. The event is also supported by the ÑÇÉ«Ó°¿â Office of Multicultural Affairs and Student Success.

Research Appreciation Week spotlights the spirit of innovation and collaboration in disciplines throughout the university and recognizes the contributions that ÑÇÉ«Ó°¿â’s original research and scholarship make to this region and to the world.

Events continue on April 10 with ÑÇÉ«Ó°¿â’s first Innovation Panel and the annual Three-Minute Thesis competition and annual Scholars Forum, all at the .

The Innovation Panel, planned from 1:00 to 2:00 p.m. in the Kovalchick Complex’s Toretti Auditorium, is a collaboration with the Allegheny Conference on Community Development. It features Pittsburgh innovators in hospitality, technology, artificial intelligence, and robotics, sharing their insights and experiences on fostering innovation in the workplace.

Panelists for the Innovation Panel are 2002 ÑÇÉ«Ó°¿â graduate Mike Embrescia, chief development officer, Carnegie Robotics; Jenny Sharpe, senior program manager, Pittsburgh Robotics Institute; 1991 ÑÇÉ«Ó°¿â master’s in higher education graduate Susan Timko, PGH site manager, Microsoft; Todd Zwicker, president, Pittsburgh Brewing Company; and Ellie Ezzell Zytka, senior project manager of strategy, Regional Industrial Development Corporation.

The Scholars Forum, planned for 9:00 a.m. to noon in the Ed Fry arena and Toretti lobby, features 168 ÑÇÉ«Ó°¿â undergraduate and graduate students and 37 high school students presenting original research, creative works, and podium presentations. The Three-Minute Thesis competition is at 11:00 a.m. in Toretti Auditorium.

Events are free and open to the community.