Alumni Home > News & Events > Noteworthy > Alumni Profiles

Emily "Paddy" Vanderbilt Wade '45

Partnering with Museums to Excite Children about Science

(First published in Technology Review, Dec. 2005/Jan. 2006)

Emily "Paddy" Vanderbilt Wade '45 with husband, Jeptha '45

When Emily "Paddy" Vanderbilt Wade '45 learned that undergraduate enrollment in science and technology was falling nationally, she decided to address the problem - by nurturing excitement for these disciplines in children.

"If you don't start engaging students in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics by the first grade, they won't be interested in these subjects when they get older," says Wade, president of the Museum Institute for Teaching Science (MITS).

In fact, Wade and her husband, Jeptha '45, have shared a deep interest in educational issues for decades. Wade, who majored in chemistry, chaired education committees for the Massachusetts Audubon Society and the Boston Zoological Society in the '60s and '70s. Her husband helped form the Newton-based Educational Development Center in the '60s, while he practiced corporate and estate planning law with Choate, Hall & Stewart until his retirement in 1990.

Wade's MITS crusade began in 1983 at MIT Corporation events, when then-MIT President Paul Gray shared his concern about the recent drop in college-level science students. Wade shared Gray's concerns, and she had the connections to do something about it. "Jeptha and I had gotten to know a lot of museum directors over the years," she says, "so we were aware of the amazing resources in our museums. They have educators who specialize in making science enjoyable for kids."

The couple invited the directors of seven local museums to a dinner party and, from that gathering, MITS was founded and began to offer summer institutes in area museums. In 2005, over 200 local elementary and middle school teachers learned new inquiry-based, hands-on methods to enliven their science curriculum at 37 museums across Massachusetts. Visit www.mits.org to read Science is Elementary, the MITS quarterly teachers resource.

Wade, an emeritus life member of the MIT Corporation, has also served as co-director of the Massachusetts Department of Education's Parent Involvement Project. In 2004, Wade was inducted into the Massachusetts Hall of Fame for Science Educators for professional contributions to science education over a long and distinguished career.

In their spare time, Wade and her husband, who live in Bedford, Mass., enjoy gatherings with their four grown children and eight grandchildren, ages two to 27. "Most of our grandchildren already appreciate science," Wade says with a laugh. "I make sure of that."

By Eileen McCluskey