ULiège brings more women’s names to its lecture halls

Marie-Andrée Bertrand, an iconic figure in Quebec criminology, had a profound impact on both academic and social spheres. Born in Montreal, she followed an exceptional career path that culminated in 1967 when she became the first Quebec woman to obtain a doctorate in criminology from the University of California, Berkeley.

Her pioneering spirit then took root at the School of Criminology and the International Center for Comparative Criminology, where she taught from 1963 to 1996. At the same time, she contributed to the PhD program in applied human sciences from 1989 to 2009, passionately sharing her knowledge and innovative vision.

The mark of her research remains indelible in the fields to which she devoted her energies. As a social worker, criminologist, feminist, trade unionist, anti-prohibitionist, and researcher, she always defended fundamental values such as freedom of action, equality, and human dignity. Her unwavering support for the most vulnerable groups and individuals, particularly incarcerated women and people struggling with drug addiction, guided all of her actions. Convinced of the need to combat discriminatory practices and policies that exacerbate their precariousness, she put her expertise and critical thinking at the service of the most disadvantaged with exemplary dedication.

Marie-Andrée Bertrand was particularly noted for her criticism of drug policies, playing a leading role both nationally and internationally in challenging the prohibitionist regime. Her commitment was reflected in particular in her involvement in the creation of the journal Drogues, santé et société (Drugs, Health and Society), where she was an active member of the editorial board from 2001 to 2008. Driven by an unwavering desire to apply a critical, political, and social approach to the study of drugs, she influenced the journal both through its editorial direction and through the articles she published in it. A visionary, she argued forcefully for the "health" dimension to be fully recognized, thus demonstrating her profound humanity.

In parallel with her work on drug policy, Marie-Andrée Bertrand devoted her career to analyzing gender, class, and ethnicity-related injustices within the criminal justice system, particularly with regard to the incarceration of women. Her research revealed women's relationship to criminal law and the systemic inequalities that affect them. In addition, her influence has extended far beyond the academic world thanks to her media presence and numerous publications, including La femme et le crime (Women and Crime) and Prisons pour femmes (Prisons for Women). Her 2003 book Les femmes et la criminalité (Women and Crime) is an essential reference work, shedding light on the evolution of female crime over thirty years and society's responses to this phenomenon.

Honored many times, Marie-Andrée Bertrand has left her mark on her era through her unwavering commitment to social justice. Indeed, her nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1994 recognized her exceptional contribution to the fight against discrimination. As a result, her work has greatly contributed to the modernization and equity of Quebec society.

For more than four decades, she has fought tirelessly for women's equality in the legal, political, professional, and social spheres. Her commitment has been recognized with several distinctions, including the title of Officer of the National Order of Quebec (2005) and Knight of the Order of La Pléiade, Order of La Francophonie (2001). Finally, she also received the Esdras Minville Award in Social Sciences in 1994.

Mireille DELMAS-MARTY was a professor of law at several French universities, where she studied and taught criminal law, as well as other legal disciplines, with a remarkable openness to the world and its evolution. With close ties to Belgium and the University of Liège, she has made her work widely known through both recognized academic publications and her contribution to reforms and discussions led by numerous national and international institutions.

After defending a thesis entitled Les sociétés de construction devant la loi pénale (Construction companies before criminal law) in 1969, she obtained her agrégation in private law and criminal sciences the following year. She then taught successively at the University of Lille II (1971-1977), the University of Paris XI (Faculty of Law of Sceaux) (1977-1990) and then at the Panthéon-Sorbonne University (1990-2002). Her career was crowned by her appointment as Professor at the Collège de France, where she became Chair of Comparative Legal Studies and Internationalization of Law (2002-2012).

Following on from her doctoral thesis, she initially developed her expertise in the field of criminal law (with an interest in criminology). This is reflected in publications such as Droit pénal des affaires (PUF, 1973) and Punir sans juger (Economica, 1992). However, from the outset of her career, Ms. DELMAS-MARTY extended her academic work to other areas of law, publishing works such as Le droit de la famille (PUF, 1976). Her work published at the turn of the 21st century focuses more on legal theory, issues relating to fundamental rights, and the internationalization of law. She has also developed her thinking on digital technology and artificial intelligence. Illustrative examples include works such as Le flou du droit : du code pénal aux droits de l'homme (PUF, 2004), Les forces imaginantes du droit (The Imaginary Forces of Law, Le Seuil, four volumes, 2004, 2006, 2007, and 2011), and Libertés et sûreté dans un monde dangereux (Freedom and Security in a Dangerous World, Le Seuil, 2010). Some of her publications have been translated into more than ten languages.

The reputation she has earned through the quality of her academic work led Professor DELMAS-MARTY to sit on the commission for the reform of the (French) Penal Code, set up and chaired by Robert BADINTER, between 1981 and 1986. Her cross-disciplinary mastery of law and her involvement in social issues were confirmed when she was appointed by François MITTERRAND as a member of the Advisory Committee for the Revision of the Constitution chaired by Dean George VEDEL (1992) and when she participated, at the request of Jacques CHIRAC and Lionel JOSPIN, in a working group entitled "Debate on the Future of Europe" (2001). Beyond the national level, she has been called upon to contribute to the work of various international forums, such as the Council of Europe and the United Nations. She also served as Special Adviser to the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (2011-2015).

Professor DELMAS-MARTY has maintained strong ties with Belgium and the University of Liège in particular. In 1989, she was elected as an "associate member" of the Royal Academy of Belgium (Class of Letters), upon the recommendation of Professors Simone DAVID-CONSTANT and Robert LEGROS. It was also our University that awarded her her first honorary doctorate in 1993 (she was subsequently awarded seven more by other universities). This honor was conferred on her at the initiative of the Faculty of Law of Liège: at its extraordinary meeting on April 17, 1991, the Faculty Council, invited to propose individuals it would like to see promoted to the rank of honorary doctor as part of the celebrations for the 175th anniversary of the University of Liège, unanimously placed Ms. DELMAS-MARTY at the top of a list of three names. On that occasion, Professor Georges KELLENS, who sponsored her candidacy alongside Professor Michel FRANCHIMONT, recalled that she had long-standing ties with our Faculty, which had notably resulted in her appointment as a "visiting professor."

Following her death, numerous prestigious institutions and the press paid tribute to her, highlighting her tireless commitment to the rule of law, her visionary thinking, and her status as an eminent jurist and teacher. According to Le Monde, Mireille DELMAS-MARTY "devoted her life to the place of law in the face of changes in the contemporary world, with an incisive and deeply humanistic perspective."

Françoise Héritier was a French anthropologist. Her work builds on and complements that of Claude Lévi-Strauss (whose student she was), whom she succeeded at the Collège de France in 1982 (she was the second woman to become a professor there). Her research was part of the structuralist movement and focused mainly on kinship, the body, and gender inequality. She began her research in the 1950s (with fieldwork among the Samo people and in several African regions) and continued it at the École Pratique des Hautes Études, the CNRS, and then as director of studies at the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales, before her appointment to the Collège de France.

Her work is considered a major advance in the field of the anthropology of alliance systems (spouse choice in "semi-complex" societies where there are no prescriptions, only prohibitions), the anthropology of incest (particularly "type II" incest, i.e., the prohibition against two blood relatives having the same sexual partner) and the anthropology of gender inequality (Héritier proposed the concept of "differential valence of the sexes" to complement Lévi-Strauss's theory on "the exchange of women").

Known for her feminist positions in public debate, she published several books on the "differential valence of the sexes," which she considered universal but not eternal (Masculin Féminin t. 1: la pensée de la différence, 1996; Masculin Féminin vol. 2: dissoudre la hiérarchie, 2002). She considered contraception to be a key instrument in the emancipation of women, acting on the primary source of their inferiority, namely their reproductive capacities.

She is also known for her participation in social debates on ethical issues (procreation, health, etc.) and family issues within several French institutions and as a close associate of the Socialist Party (she was president of the National AIDS Council, a member of the National Consultative Ethics Committee for Life Sciences, and a member of the High Council for Francophonie, the High Council for Population and Family, and the Economic and Social Council). Initially opposed to legal recognition of same-sex couples, which she considered a transgression of an anthropological constant (debate on the "PACS" in 1999), she eventually rethought the diversity of ways of forming families around the world and took a stand in favor of "marriage for all" (2013).

Margaret Mead was an American anthropologist, born in Philadelphia in 1901 and died in New York in 1978. She is recognized worldwide for the quality of her scientific work and remains a highly influential researcher in cultural anthropology. Mead studied and obtained her master's and doctoral degrees at Columbia University, where she studied alongside Franz Boas, considered the father of American anthropology, and another highly influential anthropologist, Ruth Benedict.

Mead taught at numerous universities, including Vassar College, New York University, Wellesley College, and Columbia University. In 1949, she was also president of the Society for Applied Anthropology, in 1960 of the American Anthropological Association, and in 1975 of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. She thus contributed to popularizing cultural anthropology, not only in the United States, but also throughout the so-called "Western" world. However, her work was not confined to the academic world. In fact, she worked with the American Museum of Natural History in New York City from her student years until 1978. Of course, throughout her career, she remained very active in the academic world.

Her ethnographic work focused on Oceania. In 1928, she published her first book, Coming of Age in Samoa, which was a great success upon its release. The book recounts her ethnographic study of Samoan sexuality, particularly among adolescents, at a time when the "adolescent crisis" was a concern for many Americans. In it, she demonstrates the influence of culture on human development: adolescence in Samoa differs from that in the United States in various ways, which she documented. The book went on to become one of the most cited works in studies on education, sexuality, and adolescence. It also earned her serious criticism regarding the methodological aspects of her research. This allowed subsequent generations of anthropologists to refine ethnographic practices.

Thanks to her work on sexuality and the sexual division of labor, she also became a central figure in the second wave of feminism. In the 1960s, in the context of what was called the "sexual revolution," she also took a stand for the broadening of traditional sexual conventions specific to Western religious life at the time.

In total, Margaret Mead published 23 books, including Growing Up in New Guinea (1930), Sex and Temperament in Three Primitive Societies (1935), Balinese Character: A Photographic Analysis (1942, with her husband Gregory Bateson), Continuities in Cultural Evolution (1964), "A Rap on Race" (1971, with James Baldwin); "Male and Female: A Study of the Sexes in a Changing World" (1949), "Anthropology: A Human Science" (1964), and "Culture and Commitment" (1970). She also wrote for a wider audience on women's rights, nuclear proliferation, race relations, pollution, the environment, and world hunger.

Marianne Weber, born Lucie Lorette Marianne Schnitger, was born on August 2, 1870, in Oerlinghausen, Germany. In 1907, her seminal work, Ehefrau und Mutter in der Rechtsentwicklung (Wife and Mother in Legal Development), was published, tracing the legal status of married women and mothers in Germany and elsewhere from prehistoric times to her own era.

In 1919, she was one of the first women to be elected to the Constitutional National Assembly of Baden. She then became president of the Union of German Women's Associations (Bund Deutscher Frauenvereine). However, following the death of her husband Max Weber in 1920, she ended all her political commitments in order to devote herself fully to editing and publishing her husband's works, as well as writing his biography, which was published in 1926. In 1922, she was the first woman to receive an honorary doctorate in Germany, awarded by the Faculty of Law at the University of Heidelberg, both for her work editing Weber's writings and for her book Ehefrau und Mutter in der Rechtsentwicklung (Wife and Mother in Legal Development). She died in Heidelberg on March 12, 1953.

Catherine Zwetko was born on April 3, 1944, in Berlin. After hesitating between a career as a prima ballerina and university studies, Catherine Zwetko opted for diplomatic sciences. In 1967, she presented her final thesis on the diplomatic relations between the Soviet Union and the countries of the Middle East between 1945 and 1967.

Her doctoral thesis, defended in 1977, dealt with issues relating to the socio-psychological foundations of the political attitudes of municipal staff in Liège.

The first female member of the academic staff to hold a position in political science at the University of Liège, Catherine Zwetko also founded the SPIRAL Laboratory in 1995, a research center that today, under the direction of Pierre Delvenne (F.R.S.-FNRS Senior Research Fellow), is home to nearly 30 researchers.

Catherine Zwetko was known for her non-conformism, critical thinking, and creativity. In Belgium, she was a pioneer in studies combining international risk management and public participation. These research topics were then booming in the Anglo-Saxon world, but they only became central in Europe in the 1990s, before taking on their full importance today. Her research has always been part of an interdisciplinary approach, leading to research projects with veterinarians, doctors, sociologists, historians, chemists, urban planners, anthropologists, lawyers, and physicists.

Participatory and deliberative methods, public policy analysis (particularly environmental conflicts), qualitative methods (Delphi, focus groups, etc.), and risk analysis and social acceptability are the main areas of research to which Catherine Zwetko has contributed at the international scientific community level.

Mania Pavella was born on December 8, 1934, in Nafplio, Greece. She graduated in 1958 with a degree in Civil Engineering (Electronics) from the University of Liège and continued her research in the field of electrical power systems. In 1969, she earned her doctorate in applied sciences, and her innovative work earned her the prestigious Georges Montefiore International Prize in 1970.

A professor at the University of Liège since 1978, Mania Pavella was the first woman to join the academic staff of the Faculty of Applied Sciences. This was a significant step forward for gender equality in a field that was still almost exclusively male.

In 2000, she became Professor Emeritus, and her exceptional commitment to science and education was recognized internationally, notably through her status as a Life Fellow of the IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers).

Léa Brakier-Gingras is an internationally renowned biochemist. She was the first woman to graduate in chemistry from the University of Liège and become a university professor. Promoted to professor in the Department of Biochemistry at the University of Montreal in 1970, she conducted numerous studies on ribosomes and ribosomal DNA, paving the way for understanding heart failure and developing new treatments for HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. This latter work was recognized as one of the 10 most important discoveries of 1997 by Québec Science magazine. Her research has brought her department worldwide renown. She was named an honorary member of the Association francophone pour le savoir (Acfas) in 2002.

A world-renowned Belgian mathematician born in Houthalen in 1954, Baroness Ingrid Daubechies is a pioneer in wavelet theory, a fundamental tool used in harmonic analysis, functional space theory, and signal and image processing. With a PhD in physics from the VUB, she was the first woman to obtain a permanent professorship in mathematics at Princeton University, before joining Duke University. Her work has revolutionized fields as diverse as image compression and medical imaging. She was the first woman to serve as president of the International Mathematical Union. Her work has been recognized with numerous awards, including the Wolf Prize in Mathematics in 2023. She inaugurated the Institute of Mathematics in Liège in 1997.

Born in Malmedy in 1782, she was the twelfth of thirteen children. She learned geometry and algebra from her father and developed an interest in nature, spending many hours in the Hautes Fagnes. She taught herself Latin so that she could read reference works in the field. She was interested in botany and mycology. She is known for her work "Plantae Cryptogamicae Arduennae," which is a reference for specialists in the region. Renowned for her great rigor, she enjoyed an international reputation for her work on cryptogams in the Ardennes. She is also known for identifying diseases affecting crops and other plant parasites. In total, she described more than 200 new taxa. She became the first female associate member of the Royal Botanical Society of Belgium (SRBB). She died in 1865 in Malmedy. The Cercle Royal Marie-Anne Libert and botanical and mycological taxa (Libertaria and Libertiella) were named after her.

After studying natural sciences, Suzanne Leclercq joined the paleontology laboratory at the University of Liège, where she obtained her doctorate in 1924. At the end of the 1930s, she focused her research on Devonian plants, which were considered difficult to study. She was the first woman at the University to obtain a higher education teaching qualification in 1931, and she was also the first woman to be appointed full professor in 1937. In the same year, she created the plant paleontology laboratory, which she directed for more than 35 years. Her internationally renowned laboratory welcomed many foreign researchers. The only woman to chair the Geological Society of Belgium (1953-1954), she became a member of the Royal Academy of Belgium in 1965.

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Bernadette Mérenne-Schoumaker devoted much of her academic career (1967-2007) to studying the evolution of economic activity. Her areas of expertise subsequently expanded to include land use planning, regional development, and the geography of energy and raw materials. In 1985, she founded the Department of Fundamental and Applied Economic Geography at the University of Liège. Beyond the university, she left her mark on the territorial development of the Walloon Region as president of the Laboratory for Urban and Rural Planning Studies (LEPUR) from 1998 to 2008. In parallel with this field of research, in 1984 she founded the Laboratory of Geography Methodology (LMG), which has helped to develop the didactic aspect of geography teaching.

After earning a bachelor's degree in physics in Liège (1964), Arlette Noels obtained her doctorate in 1971 as part of Paul Ledoux's group. Her research focused on the stability of stars in a variety of contexts (different masses and different stages of their lives). In 1996, she became the first Belgian woman to become a professor of astrophysics. She headed the theoretical astrophysics group in Liège and the Belgian Asteroseismology Group. She represented Belgium on the Scientific Council of the CoRoT space mission (2006-2014). In addition to her courses at the University of Liège, she also taught at the University of Louvain-la-Neuve and the University of Namur.

After graduating with a degree in physics from the University of Bologna, Nadia Pinardi began her career in the United States, where she obtained a doctorate from Harvard University. She returned to Europe in the 1990s, where she assumed undisputed leadership in the development of international projects that would lead to modern oceanography. In particular, she played a decisive role in the emergence of operational oceanography with her determination to set up a Europe-wide forecasting service. This is a major step forward for oceanography and for our societies at a time when climate change and other anthropogenic pressures are threatening the health of our oceans. Nadia Pinardi's work has been recognized with prestigious awards and, in 2015, she was made a Commander of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic. A generous and passionate personality, Nadia Pinardi is a source of inspiration for the younger generation, whom she has always supported and encouraged.

She studied art history and archaeology at the University of Liège, where she took a course in music history taught by Charles Van den Borren, a lawyer and self-taught musicologist. She then studied musicology in Heidelberg.

Upon her return to Belgium, she worked as a librarian at the Brussels Conservatory, turning the library into a discreet meeting place for the Resistance. After becoming a professor in Liège, she created a musicology course as part of the graduate program in art history (1956), which she taught alone for many years.

An internationally renowned musicologist and founder of the early music festival "Les Nuits de Septembre" (1957), she worked to rediscover the musical past of the Principality of Liège.

Claudine Gothot-Mersch is one of the pioneers of textual genetics. Trained in Romance philology at the University of Liège, she defended her doctoral thesis on The Genesis of Madame Bovary there in 1963. She is responsible for the first three volumes of the reference edition of Flaubert's Complete Works in the "Bibliothèque de la Pléiade" (2001-2013). In addition to her work on Théophile Gautier and Leconte de Lisle, she also devoted herself to the study of Simenon's manuscripts. A member of the Royal Academy of French Language and Literature of Belgium, she represented philology in the broadest sense.

The Gothot Room was originally named after Victor Gothot, professor of tax law, at a time when the Faculty of Law was located in the 20-Août district. Since 2025, it has also honored Claudine Gothot-Mersch, wife of Pierre Gothot, professor of private international law and son of Victor Gothot.

She was the first female student and graduate in Romance philology at the University of Liège (1896-1900).

Together with Marie Delcourt, she founded the Liège branch of the Belgian Federation of University Women and was also involved in the Union of Women of Wallonia (1912-1936), serving as its secretary and then president. She wrote numerous articles for the periodical La Femme wallonne and campaigned for women's suffrage and the right of women to work.

Finally, she distinguished herself in the Walloon movement, as a liberal member of the Walloon Assembly (1919-1923) and then alongside the more radical, federalist tendency.

An Austrian-born actress who became an icon of classic Hollywood cinema, she is also recognized for her pioneering contributions to the field of communications technology.

A film star committed to fighting fascism, a passionate actress, and a daring producer, Lamarr also stood out for her talents as an inventor. Supporting the Allies and the war effort, she collaborated with composer George Antheil to design a frequency-hopping communication system to secure military radio guidance transmissions during World War II. This patent, filed in 1941, laid the foundation for modern technologies such as GPS and Wi-Fi.

She explored Commonwealth literature, recognizing its role as a vehicle for identity creation in the context of decolonization and then independence for the nations concerned. She studied African, Australian, and Caribbean literature, becoming a world-renowned specialist in the field.

She introduced postcolonial literature to the University of Liège's curriculum in the late 1960s, well before the discipline became institutionalized in the English-speaking world.

She became a full member of the Literature Class of the Royal Academy of Belgium in 2004, after receiving the title of Officer of the Order of the British Empire in 1991, on the recommendation of Queen Elizabeth II of England.

A conference interpreter trained at the Sorbonne and HEC Paris, she laid the foundations for modern interpretation theory. After a turbulent youth spent between Paris, Berlin, and Belgrade, followed by a career that took her to Washington and Luxembourg as an interpreter, this remarkable polyglot taught at the École supérieure d'interprètes et de traducteurs (ESIT), where she was director from 1982 to 1990. From her earliest writings, she challenged purely linguistic approaches to translation, viewing it instead as a cognitive process. Her interpretive theory of translation, developed in 1984 with her colleague Marianne Lederer, revolutionized the teaching of translation and interpreting.

After obtaining a Doctorate in Medicine in Liège (1956) and becoming the first female intern at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Liège, in the department of Professor Jacques Roskam, Gilberte Haneuse-Reginster obtained a Doctorate in Clinical Sciences in Liège.

Gilberte Haneuse-Reginster's research focused mainly on public health, nutrition, and the epidemiology of non-communicable diseases, resulting in numerous reports, summary documents, and scientific articles.

She was the first woman to represent the University of Liège and/or Belgium in various national and international organizations, including, but not limited to, the Francophone Health Education Commission of the Red Cross, the Higher Council for Hygiene, the Community Advisory Council for Health Prevention, the World Health Organization's Panel of Experts on Health, and the European Communities Commission on Health Education and Nutrition.

She became the first woman to be appointed as a full-time lecturer at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Liège. She also taught at the Faculty of Applied Sciences of the University of Liège and represented the University of Liège on the Board of Directors of the University Center of Charleroi.

She was also a visiting professor at the Catholic University of Louvain, the Notre-Dame-de-la-Paix University Faculties in Namur, and the University Center of Charleroi, while also co-directing CERES-ULiège (Center for Teaching and Research in Health Education). 

Dorothy Vera Margaret Bishop is Professor Emeritus of Developmental Neuropsychology at the University of Oxford and holds an honorary doctorate from the University of Liège. After studying experimental psychology at Oxford, she went on to complete a master's degree in clinical psychology at the University of London, followed by a doctorate at Oxford. Her pioneering work in the field of developmental language disorders and dyslexia has made her one of the most influential scientists in the field of developmental (neuro)psychology and speech therapy. Dorothy Bishop also contributes to collective reflections and initiatives aimed at strengthening the integrity of scientific practices. Her commitment extends far beyond the academic field: she is co-founder of the RADLD (Raising Awareness of Developmental Language Disorder) campaign, which raises public awareness of developmental language disorder. 

Known as Ada Lovelace, she is considered the first programmer in history. Working with Charles Babbage, in 1843 she designed an algorithm for his analytical engine, anticipating the potential of computers far beyond calculation. A feminist ahead of her time, she embodies the place of women in science. Her legacy inspires cognitive science, educational computing, and interdisciplinary thinking. 

Born in 1900 in Val-des-Prés, Émilie Carles grew up in a rural environment where work was hard, but where school became a refuge and a tool for emancipation. The only one of her siblings to pursue her studies, she graduated in Paris before returning to teach in the Hautes-Alpes. In her classrooms, often set up in modest conditions, she taught her students the values of tolerance, lucidity in the face of injustice, and above all, freedom of thought, encouraging them to develop a critical mind and to reject the inevitability of war.

Involved from an early age in pacifist and libertarian circles, she shared with her husband a deep opposition to militarism, racism, and social submission. In the 1970s, Émilie Carles became a central figure in the ecological struggle by opposing a highway project that threatened the Clarée Valley, leading to the abandonment of the project in the face of popular mobilization. She recounted her life and struggles in her autobiographical work, Une soupe aux herbes sauvages (A Soup of Wild Herbs). 

Jodie Devos was a Belgian soprano, born in Libramont. She distinguished herself through her virtuosity and expressiveness in the operatic repertoire, particularly French. Winner of second prize and the audience prize at the Queen Elisabeth Competition in 2014, she quickly conquered the major Belgian and international stages. Trained at the Higher Institute of Music and Pedagogy in Namur, then at the Royal Academy of Music in London, she played major roles such as Lakmé, Ophelia, Susanna, Gilda, and the Queen of the Night. She also recorded several critically acclaimed albums. Committed to cultural mediation, she supported educational and inclusive projects, notably with the ReMuA association, whose main mission is to promote social integration and equal opportunities through collective music-making. Jodie Devos died prematurely in June 2024 at the age of 35, leaving behind a brilliant career and a lasting vocal, artistic, and human legacy.

Psychologist and engineer Lillian Gilbreth was a pioneer in occupational psychology and ergonomics. She earned a doctorate in applied psychology in 1915 and was the first scientist to hold a doctorate in the field of industrial management. She offered constructive criticism of the concept of Taylorism, highlighting its failure to take the human element into account. She also contributed to many inventions that are commonplace today, such as the pedal trash can and storage compartments built into refrigerator doors. She received numerous scientific and societal awards, including twenty-three honorary doctorates. 

A developmental psychologist and neuroscientist, Annette Karmiloff-Smith has had a profound impact on cognitive developmental psychology. A specialist in atypical development and genetic disorders, she has opened up new perspectives by opposing extreme modularism. Instead, she has proposed a dynamic developmental approach, according to which cognition gradually modularizes during development, in constant interaction with the environment. She thus defended a neuroconstructivist view of human cognition, reconciling nativist and constructivist approaches, which had long been opposed in scientific debate. Her research reflects a constant desire to link fundamental research to clinical practice and education, highlighting its practical implications for understanding and supporting children with neurodevelopmental disorders. A leading female figure in a field largely dominated by men, she has inspired many researchers, helping to pave the way for women in cognitive science.