Program Aims
Promoting women in STEM at universities and colleges
The Clare Boothe Luce Program for Women in STEM is dedicated to increasing the participation of women in the sciences and engineering at every level of higher education. The program aims to transform STEM ecosystems across the United States by addressing the structural and cultural barriers that inhibit women’s pursuit of and persistence in STEM fields, expanding educational opportunities for women in STEM, and advancing their leadership in the sciences. As of 2024, the Clare Boothe Luce Program awards grants of up to $750,000 to higher education institutions so they may uncover and address the barriers which prevent or discourage women on their campuses from pursuing and persisting in STEM fields.
Additionally, the Henry Luce Foundation awards CBL STEM Community Grants that allow CBL institutions to maximize their impact in addressing gender disparities in STEM by creating supportive STEM ecosystems within their local communities.
Program History
Clare Boothe Luce (1903-1987) was a truly remarkable woman. Her career spanned seven decades and nearly as many professional interests—journalism, politics, the theatre, diplomacy, and intelligence. Among her notable achievements is her most successful play, The Women, which opened on Broadway on December 26, 1936. She was instrumental in establishing the Atomic Energy Commission and was appointed U.S. Ambassador to Italy, becoming the first American woman to represent her country to a significant world power. In 1981, President Reagan appointed Clare to the President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board, and in 1983, she received the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Clare Boothe Luce left most of her estate to the Henry Luce Foundation. Characteristically trailblazing, she declined to restrict her vision to the fields where she had established her reputation. She chose instead to establish a legacy that would benefit current and future generations of women with talent and ambition in areas where they continue to be severely underrepresented—science, mathematics, and engineering.
Through her bequest, the Clare Boothe Luce Program (CBL) at the Henry Luce Foundation began supporting women studying, researching, and teaching in these areas at higher education institutions. As stated in her will, the program is intended "to encourage women to enter, study, graduate, and teach" in fields where there have been various professional and personal obstacles to their advancement. The program awarded grants to higher education institutions for many years to support new undergraduate scholars, graduate fellows, and professors. In its first 35 years, the Clare Boothe Luce Program awarded grants totaling over $237 million, supporting nearly 4,000 undergraduate, graduate, and early career women faculty and making great strides to close the gender gap in STEM.
Clare Boothe Luce Program by the Numbers - 2023
Recent Grants
Program Administrators
Aida Gureghian is the program director for leadership at the Henry Luce Foundation. She previously served as the assistant dean for professional development at the Graduate School of Arts and Science at New York University, where she designed and implemented innovative programming to cultivate leadership and public engagement skills. Aida also served as the assistant dean for students at NYU, where she launched several pathway programs for underrepresented students. Prior to pursuing a career in higher education administration, she taught history at the University of Pennsylvania and Brooklyn College. Aida earned her bachelor's degree in history from UCLA, her MPhil from Oxford University, and her PhD in history from the University of Pennsylvania.
Prior to joining the Luce Foundation, Sarah was the administrative assistant for the PCLB Foundation, managing their office space and providing support for their grant cycle. She was also previously a research assistant at the New School and in the law firm of Paul Weiss. Sarah earned a master’s degree from the New School in Politics, focusing on Global Environmental Politics, and she earned her bachelor’s degree at Penn State University in International Relations with a minor in Environmental Inquiry.
