Meet Rachel Ivie

Rachel Ivie is a longtime supporter and friend of SPS and Sigma Pi Sigma. Many members will be familiar with her studies of the physics community, which are often featured in talks (given by her and others), on posters adorning physics and astronomy department walls, and in news stories covered by outlets from Physics Today to the New York Times.

Ivie received a PhD in sociology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she specialized in research methods, statistics, and gender. She came to the American Institute of Physics, the parent organization of Sigma Pi Sigma, in 1998. For most of her career, Ivie worked with the AIP Statistical Research Center (SRC), including as director of the SRC. She is a fellow of the American Astronomical Society.

Ivie is a sought-after expert on the careers of physicists and astronomers, particularly the careers of women in these fields. She has designed and carried out numerous studies of the physics and astronomy communities, from a global study of scientists that outlines gender differences in career progress to a longitudinal study of astronomy graduate students that uncovered factors that may make women more likely to leave the field. Prior to becoming the inaugural senior research fellow at AIP and interim director of SPS and Sigma Pi Sigma, Ivie was senior director of education and research at AIP.

“I’m excited to be working with the SPS and Sigma Pi Sigma staff, volunteers, and students during this time of transition,” Ivie says. “I intend to carry out my stewardship of SPS and Sigma Pi Sigma in line with my personal values of integrity, trust, and a belief in the importance of science. I look forward to interacting more with everyone who contributes to the success of SPS and Sigma Pi Sigma.”