Catherine Koshland

Part of it is first having a really first-class education. I have an undergraduate degree from a leading liberal arts college, and then my graduate degree is from Stanford. So, really strong education and having some remarkable mentors early on. Also, not being afraid to take a risk and try something new. I'm not someone who planned a career - I actually have sort of an aversion to some of that. I made sure I was in positions to take advantage of opportunities when they came, and that was true the entire time I was at Berkeley. I took advantage of opportunities to do things across the campus, do things for the campus. A willingness to put yourself out there and take on leadership roles when asked to do so. If you're well-prepared and you can look around the landscape and see either what needs doing, or take advantage when someone says we have a need, and not be afraid to jump in and do it. I didn't plan the journey that I had. I took advantage of opportunities each step of the way, and ended up extremely satisfied.

One of my first mentors, the head of mechanical engineering at Stanford who was also the head of the Energy Institute, gave me really important advice when I was getting ready to say yes to my first job. I had an opportunity for a national lab and the opportunity at Berkeley, and he said, you already got two kids, you're a mom, you want to be in academia someday? Do it now. Don't go to the national lab. He knew something about me at the time that I think I didn't know, which is that I would eventually move into some sort of administrative capacities, and that I wasn't going to stick strictly into a research career, research and teaching career. I think he was right. So that was really important piece of advice, which was just go for it now. And I'm really glad I did.

One, you really have to, if you're going to be in an R1 research university, love the research that you're going to be doing. You really also have to love guiding and mentoring students at all levels, whether they're freshmen or doctoral students, or for that matter, a postdoc. You have to care about those things. And I think the third thing that I think is important is sometimes it's not about you, it's about the institution, it's about the program you're supporting, and it's about your students. And for that matter, younger colleagues. My advice is, if you're passionate about those kinds of things, and you care about the bigger picture, academia can be an amazing place to pursue your interests across all possible disciplines. The other thing that I really think is important is if you're well-prepared, and you can look around the landscape and see either what needs doing, or take advantage when someone says we have a need, and not be afraid to jump in and do it. I didn't do any career planning. I didn't plan the journey that I had. I took advantage of opportunities each step of the way, and ended up extremely satisfied.

I really care about the value of higher education, which is under attack at the moment, and I think people really misunderstand what it provides for not just your personal life, but how that education can contribute to your communities, to our civic life. That to me is really important. If more people could understand the value of that and be able to be supportive - it's not just about skills for a paycheck. It's beyond that.

The first thing that came into my head was honesty. I think deeply caring about things that are beyond oneself, not about oneself. Not being afraid to be yourself. I came into graduate school with two kids while getting my PhD, and had a third one when I was an assistant professor. I was always very open and honest about the fact that I was a mom, a parent, that I loved doing that. My husband had a high-powered Silicon Valley career, and we shared a lot. I think my family is something else that is incredibly important to me, and I wasn't afraid to let people know that, and also to support my colleagues in whatever form of family they had. When I went to tell the head of the laboratory at Stanford that I wanted to stay and get my PhD, I said, great, and oh, by the way, I'm gonna have another kid. I'd already had one. I was honest. When I joined the Berkeley faculty in 1984, believe me, many of my women colleagues had waited until they got tenure to even think about having a kid, and some of them weren't able to do it because they weren't ready. Just being clear about what was important - it was important to me and my husband to have a family, as well as pursue our passions.