My name is Gail Naughton and I am President of Advanced Tissue Sciences. On June 28th of this year I was honored to be the first individual woman to be awarded "National Inventor of the Year" by the Intellectual Property Organization. I was delighted to donate my award money to the Association for Women in Science Organization to help provide scholarship funds for young women interested in pursuing a career in science; but this is a small part of what needs to be done. Being the first woman of 27 awardees is indeed a privilege and offers me the opportunity to serve as a role model for many young women interested in pursuing a career in science. Yet the "first of 27" raises the serious issue of the paucity of women who are pursuing a career in technical fields and who are contributing their talents toward developing key inventions that can provide key benefits to the American public and to people worldwide.

My successes scientifically were not due to special programs in schools, scholarships for women in science, or a privileged formal education. I am a scientist today because I had the great fortune to be raised by my parents to believe that I can achieve anything I set my mind to. Although not having the benefit of a college education, my parents stressed the value of higher education to both my brother and myself. This backing, along with a strong stubbornness, carried me through years of intense training toward my Ph.D.

Training in the sciences and engineering is long, expensive, and arduous and starting salaries in these fields for new Ph.D.s are remarkably low, particularly for women and minorities. Young people need to be encouraged to face these hurdles and be given every opportunity to develop their scientific talents.

We and others developing cutting edge technologies in this exciting new millennium need the largest and best-trained talent pool available. Please don't let future inventors be neglected. I implore your support of developing grants and scholarships to encourage women and minorities to get into technology. Training and support can't start too early; scholarships for special training and scientific sabbaticals for teachers in minority areas are a key first step. Programs to raise awareness and encourage young scientists are key. Your support can help ensure that the United States develops the best talent pool and remains clearly the worldwide technical leader.