Meghan Anzelc, PhD

Title: “From Code to Corner Office: Resilience, Risk-Taking, and Rising Above”

Dr. Anzelc is the CU*iP 2025 Millie Dresselhaus Keynote Speaker! She is an executive leader in data and analytics product development and deployment.

Professor Catherine Cooper, Washington State University

Title: “The Earth and Belonging”

Catherine “Katie” Cooper is an associate professor in the School of the Environment and the associate dean for faculty for the College of Arts & Sciences at Washington State University. As a geodynamicist, her research explores such topics as plate tectonics, mantle convection, planetary evolution, and lithospheric deformation. She is forever curious about the Earth and other planetary bodies. She received her PhD from Rice University and furthered her career as a postdoctoral fellow at the Carnegie Institution for Science. When not supporting faculty, conducting research, or serving her communities, she can be found hanging out with her husband, stepson, and a lovely, but stubborn, orange cat.

Dr. Ansel Neunzert, LIGO/Caltech/University of Washington

Title: “Digging Through the data: LIGO, Noise, and Other Messy Research Realities”

Ansel Neunzert is a postdoctoral scholar at the LIGO Hanford Observatory and an affiliate instructor at the University of Washington, Bothell. Their research work focuses on improving detection prospects for gravitational waves from spinning neutron stars. Ansel has a strong interest in physics pedagogy, mentoring undergraduate researcher students, and helping students see physics as a fundamentally social endeavor. They received their PhD from the University of Michigan and their undergraduate degree from Oregon State University

Professor Janet Tate, Oregon State University

Title: “Adventures in Materials and Other Fun Things: My path through Physics”

Janet Tate is a University Distinguished Professor of Physics, Emerita, at Oregon State University, where she has been on the faculty since 1989. Her research in experimental materials physics has included work on high-temperature superconductors, transparent conductors and metastable semiconductors. Her graduate and undergraduate mentees are employed all over the US and the world. She is passionate about teaching physics and has won several awards for teaching. She was a leading contributor to the undergraduate research program in OSU’s Physics Department, and developed and taught the thesis writing course for many years. She was a member of the APS Committee on Education and chaired the APS Committee on Careers and Professional Development. She chaired the first Conference on Graduate Education and helped to raise awareness in Physics Departments about attending to the professional development of graduate students. In 2024, Janet was honored to receive the OSU College of Science’s Lifetime Achievement in Science Award.