Eye on the Triangle

Breyton Hill discusses the history of March being recognized as Women's History Month. She also discusses the careers and achievements of outstanding women in STEM who have changed the world for the better, including Ada Lovelace, Henrietta Lacks, Rosalind Franklin, Marie Curie, Jane Goodall, Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan, and Mary Jackson. All these women and many, many more should be celebrated, especially as the 2026 theme of Women's History Month is “Leading the Change: Women Shaping a Sustainable Future”.
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Creators and Guests

Host
Shradha Bhatia
Public Affairs Director (2025-2026)
Producer
Breyton Hill
Content Creator

What is Eye on the Triangle?

Eye on the Triangle is WKNC 88.1 FM HD-1/HD-2’s weekly public affairs programming with news, interviews, opinion, weather, sports, arts, music, events and issues that matter to NC State, Raleigh and the Triangle.

00:02
Shradha Bhatia
You are listening to Eye of the Triangle, WKNC's weekly public affairs program from the campus of North Carolina State University in Raleigh. Any views and opinions expressed during Eye of the Triangle do not represent NC State or student media.

00:33
Breyton Hill
Hello everyone. Thank you for listening to WKNC 88.1. My name is Breyton Hill and I want to wish everyone a happy Women's History Month. March is almost over, but before it goes, I want to highlight and celebrate some women who are influential and critical to the advancement of science. But first, why is Women's History Month in March? Starting way back in 1911, March 8 was officially recognized as International Women's Day. Then, in 1969, Laura X, a women's rights activist, organized a march in Berkeley, California on International Women's Day. This led to the United nations distinguishing March 8 as a day for women's rights and international peace, along with officially recognizing it as International Women's Day in 1977.

01:17
Breyton Hill
In 1978, the Sonoma County Education Task Force planned Women's History Week In Santa Rosa, California, built around International Women's Day, and in 1980, President Jimmy Carter issued a Presidential proclamation that the week of March 8th is National Women's History Week. The proclamation stated, from the first settlers who came to our shores, from the first American Indian families who befriended them, men and women have worked together to build this nation. Too often the women were unsung, and sometimes their contributions went unnoticed. But the achievements, leadership, courage, strength, and love of the women who built America was as vital as that of man whose names we know so well. Responding to growing popularity, Congress over the next couple of years continued to pass resolutions designated a week in March as Women's history week.

02:05
Breyton Hill
In 1987, after lots of petitioning, Congress designated the month of March as Women's History Month. Since then, Women's History Month has only grown, taking on different themes each year. This year, 2026, theme is Leading the Change Women Shaping a Sustainable Future. With that theme in mind, I'd like to look back on some of the women who have shaped the history of science, allowing women today to work towards a better future. First up is Ada Lovelace, a mathematician and writer. Born in 1815 and dying in 1852, she's known for being the world's first programmer. Ada added extensive notes on analytical engine. Her notes had an algorithm that spelled the Broly numbers, which are known to be the first published computer program.

02:48
Breyton Hill
She was the first to understand and explain that computers could do more than just calculate numbers and instead could encode other information like music, ADA understood what we now know today as software. In her time, ADA is an example of what women can do when given a chance, as she was encouraged to study mathematics. Henrietta Lacks, born in 1920 and dying in 1951, has also been influential in medical research. However, without her consent, Henrietta's cervical cancer cells were unknowingly collected during her treatment at John Hopkins Hospital. These cells were then cultured, creating the cell line known as HeLa cells. These HeLa cells were the first to be observed, dividing multiple times without dying. Coining the descriptor of immortal cells.

03:30
Breyton Hill
These cells were rapidly reproduced and shipped all over the country to aid in research for the polio vaccine, cancer research, AIDS research, gene mapping, and much more. However, it wasn't until 1975 that Henrietta's family found out that her cells were being used for all of this research. Neither her or her family had given consent for the physicians to harvest her cells or to reproduce them for research purposes. Her family has since filed lawsuits against multiple biotechnology companies for profiting from her cells and have settled privately with them. In the last couple of years, Henrietta's cells have not only advanced medical research significantly, but also brought to light important concerns about informed consent and privacy around medical records, genetics, and the role that race plays in both of those. Rosalind Franklin, also born in 1920 but died in 1958, helped discover the structure of DNA.

04:20
Breyton Hill
Using chemistry and X ray crystallography and diffraction, she discovered DNA's density and helical structure. Her data, however, never published, led to the discovery of DNA's double helix shape. Her student's photo of DNA's double helix, called Photo 51, will go down in history. However, Rosalind also worked on RNA and viral structures. If she was still alive, it's highly plausible that she would have won a Nobel Prize for her work in chemistry. And speaking of Nobel Prizes, Marie Curie was actually the first woman to win a Nobel Prize. However, she didn't win just one. She was the first person to win a Nobel Prize twice and the only person to win a Nobel Prize in two different scientific fields. Marie discovered the elements radium and polonium, which can now be seen on the periodic table. Her research was focused on radioactivity.

05:10
Breyton Hill
However, she also worked with X rays to develop mobile X rays known as radiological cars to provide medical imaging to wounded soldiers and reduce amputations during World War I. A war hero and a two time Nobel Prize winner, those are some big shoes to fill. Jane Goodall was a primatologist and anthropologist with most of her research shaping the field of animal behavior. Born in 1934 and dying just this past year in 2025, Jane studied chimpanzees over six decades and discovered that they made and use tools, have complex emotions, form incredible long lasting social bonds, and pass down knowledge from generation to generation.

05:49
Breyton Hill
Not only was she an advocate for animal species such as the chimpanzee, but also for animal conservation globally but beyond Just Earth Women have been pioneers in space Katherine Johnson, born in 1918 and dying in 2020, was a NASA mathematician and aerospace technologist. She overcame not only gender but also racial barriers to help NASA send astronauts safely to the moon. Working as a human computer, her work was not limited to just the moon. She also calculated trajectories and launch windows for the Space Shuttle program and worked on plans for humans to go to Mars. Her colleagues Dorothy Vaughn and Mary Jackson were also instrumental in Mary Jackson was also NASA's first African American female engineer. From modern medicine to space exploration, these women are quite awesome and have been crucial to the advancement of science and technology.

06:39
Breyton Hill
All of these women and many more should be celebrated during Women's History Month, especially as we celebrate a theme of Leading the Change Women shaping a sustainable future. So Commend Women in STEM and women everywhere. Thank you for listening. This is WKNC 88.1.

07:04
Shradha Bhatia
This has been Eye on the triangle from WKNC 88.1 FM HD-1 Raleigh. Our theme song is Krakatoa by Noah Stark, licensed under Creative Commons. To re listen to this or any other episode, visit wknc.org podcast or subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. Thank you for listening.