Mathematician credits mentors for success
This is the second in a series of articles featuring talented and successful MUSC women and their thoughts on mentoring in the past, present and future.by Heather Woolwine
Public Relations
Barbara Tilley, Ph.D., Biostatistics, Biometry, and Epidemiology chair,
is a mathematician who credits part of her professional success to a high
school English teacher.
“I received an A on a paper but my teacher told me that the only reason I had gotten it was because I had written what he wanted to hear and it was grammatically correct,” Tilley said. “He knew that what I had written was not what I really thought. This had a profound effect on me and challenged me to always question and think about my beliefs rather than try to give the right answer. The experience plays into my scientific success and what I do every day.”
Proof that mentoring comes in all shapes and forms, Tilley’s career is marked with numerous academic appointments, an impressive teaching record, and membership to many well-known professional organizations.
A little more than 20 years after earning her doctorate in biometry, Tilley credits her success to ideals and principles she learned from mentors scattered throughout her life.
Dr.
Barbara Tilley
“I did not have one specific mentor that I contacted for everything, instead I went to many different people for many different things,” she said. “I was so excited when a mentor helped me discover biostatistics and the opportunity it afforded me to work as a mathematician and help people at the same time. Another mentor encouraged me to ask questions and be unafraid to say that I didn’t know or understand something. Following another mentor's example, I learned to work well with other people regardless of the difficulty of the situation. All of these things contributed to my participation in leadership roles at MUSC and other universities.”
A native of San Rafael, Calif., Tilley thought she would return to the area after completing her education, but found herself moving from there to Seattle, then Texas, Detroit, and finally Charleston in 1999.
Throughout her career Tilley formed opinions about what mentoring relationships should be like.
“I believe that mentoring is an informal process. Even if the university mandated that each department participate in facilitating mentoring in some way, I believe that individual departments should decide what works best for their discipline,” she said. “I don’t think that you can expect one mentor to handle all your needs and there’s nothing wrong with having more than one at a time.”
According to Tilley, both mentor and the person being mentored have a responsibility to present their expectations of one another.
“A good mentor knows when to let go and only gives the amount of guidance or direction that’s really needed,” she said. “When I first started being a mentor, I wasn’t always the best at this myself. A good mentor doesn’t always jump in and solve the problem right away. A mentor is there to support the person and build their self-confidence. On the opposite end, a pupil should be self-motivated and not afraid to discuss and question the mentor’s advice. It’s also important that he or she understands that most research careers are not nine to five and thus good mentors are usually very busy. So, the person being mentored must actively seek what they need from their mentor and keep after their mentor for what they want.”
And like many relationships in life, Tilley suggested that both remain honest enough with themselves to realize when the relationship is not working and seek one that does.
“We as a university need more training in how to become better mentors and more financial support from our departments to provide senior faculty with some recognition for taking the time to mentor other faculty or students. We need to demonstrate that we value that extra weight that a real mentoring relationship places on the mentor,” Tilley said.
And while Tilley will agree that it is important to match interests between mentors and pupils, she doesn’t feel that mentoring relationships are greatly influenced by gender.
Worried that pupils might miss opportunities by choosing mentors based on gender, Tilley cautioned that the important qualities related to a mentor aren’t gender specific. A more important issue might be finding a mentor well-versed in the workings of a specific institution.
“The most important thing, whether related to a mentoring relationship or any other professional situation, is not being afraid to ask questions and say what you believe. Never be satisfied with a simple answer if it doesn’t answer your question.”
MUSC Women’s Web site
Originally created by the Educational Technology Lab and MUSC student
Erica Manning in honor of women’s history month, the Web site http://www.musc.edu/musc_women
details significant contributions women have made to the academic, clinical
and culture of MUSC since its beginning.
The site contains a timeline of historical events, biographical information on some of MUSC’s most influential women, and will soon contain a section for the Women’s Scholars Initiative. This page will include information on the various WSI committees and a compilation of information on topics ranging from promotion and tenure at MUSC to mentoring and special events for women throughout the year.
Although a work in progress, please visit the site to learn more about
the impact women have had at MUSC.
Friday, March 11, 2005
Catalyst Online is published weekly, updated
as needed and improved from time to time by the MUSC Office of Public Relations
for the faculty, employees and students of the Medical University of South
Carolina. Catalyst Online editor, Kim Draughn, can be reached at 792-4107
or by email, catalyst@musc.edu. Editorial copy can be submitted to Catalyst
Online and to The Catalyst in print by fax, 792-6723, or by email to petersnd@musc.edu
or catalyst@musc.edu. To place an ad in The Catalyst hardcopy, call Community
Press at 849-1778.