When third-year entrepreneurship student Nyia Curtis walked into her first class at AACC in 2015, she recalls, she wasn’t excited for college. But that all changed when her professor, Carlene Cassidy, walked in the room.

“She was really enthusiastic, incredibly energetic and very engaging,” Curtis said.
Curtis said Cassidy made such an impact on her that she told her mother, “I think I like school again.”

AACC employs 367 female professors and 193 male professors—a ratio of nearly 2 to 1—according to Dan Baum, the director of public relations and marketing.

Dr. Dawn Lindsay, the college’s second female president since it opened in 1961, said she enjoys working with so many women.

“Women tend to be more collaborative, inclusive, [and] they are more likely to sit down and get to the heart of the problem,” she said.

Plus, she said, “We want the students to feel empowered and see themselves.”

Lindsay said AACC is bringing in the most qualified people, and not specifically hiring women in order to outnumber men.

“I think it’s phenomenal,” Curtis said. “It shows that AACC understands that anybody can be a leader, no matter what they look like.”

For the past 10 years, AACC’s student body has included around 3,330 more women than men, according to registrar Nanci Beier.

All over campus, students have reported being inspired by female professors.

“Mary Ellen Cassebaum is literally my favorite teacher ever, period,” Nathan Ho, a second-year mathematics student, said.

Johna Anderson, a first-year nursing student, said it’s “great” that AACC has so many women at the college.

“If people only see male professors, or female professors, then that may discourage someone from going into a field,” Anderson said.
Women also outnumber men on AACC’s non-faculty staff, which includes 388 women and 237 men, according to Baum.

Vice President of Learning Resources Management Melissa Beardmore said that 11 years ago, Dr. Martha Smith—AACC’s president from 1994 to 2012 and the college’s first female president—appointed her as vice president.

“I was really fortunate that a female role model took a chance on me, and here I am, 11 years later,” Beardmore said.