Active 1996 - 2018

Dr. Jan Talbot joined the UC San Diego faculty in 1986 after receiving her Ph.D. in chemical engineering and materials science that same year from the University of Minnesota. She wanted to combine the two fields of chemical engineering and materials science which was very unusual at the time. Prior to joining UCSD she interviewed in industry, national labs and academia and was frequently told to decide between the two fields. She constantly asked herself if she was a material scientist or a chemical engineer. Eventually Dr. Talbot decided to try academia - the only place that really embraced her idea was UCSD. When she came to UCSD with this idea, she was encouraged to "go for it." She helped Dr. M. Lea Rudee develop a graduate Material Science program offering a place for chemical engineering students to diversify their learning. She notes, "that is the beauty of UCSD from day one, it is very interdisciplinary and really open to new ideas, new disciplines and new directions for old disciplines. If you have some crazy idea (like Nanoengineering) you can go on that path with a lot of support. Not everyone succeeds but UCSD is willing to take a chance on you. Especially if it is innovative!"

Early on Dr. Talbot felt leadership activities were something she truly wanted to follow. She met people who were in administrative leadership positions at UCSD and in her professional society, served as Chair of the Academic Senate, Chair of the Committee on Committees, then moved into Chair of the Committee on Committees for the whole UC system (one of her most fun experiences). She also served as President of her professional chemical society, Director of the Chemical Engineering program for 20 years, and then became Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs and Welfare at the Jacobs School of Engineering.

Dr. Talbot taught mainly about nanomaterials. She hopes her research helped advance the associated technologies and general knowledge of the topics. She shifted the weight of how research was being put together, and worked with four additional faculty members in two years to get the curriculum for undergraduate and graduate levels. Dr. Talbot feels her greatest contribution during her time at UCSD was training graduate and undergraduate students in lab. Working with such bright young people to nurture and see them become amazing engineers and scientists was truly special and one of her biggest joys in life.

She was the first woman in her department, so the men she worked with became her mentors later in her career. She immersed herself in colleagues' offices and asked to learn from them and learn more - professional mentorship was a new thing then. Two colleagues that were the most influential during her time at UCSD are the late Professor Joanna McKittrick and Professor Jeanne Ferrante. Dr. Joanna McKittrick was a professor in the Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering (MAE) Department and the second woman to join the engineering faculty (after Dr. Talbot). Their research was complementary so they had an amazing relationship doing research: Dr. Talbot was big picture, while Dr. McKittrick was great at details. Dr. McKittrick was an exceptional friend and colleague, quirky and brilliant. Dr. Talbot learned a lot from her in her style. They planned to write a book together in retirement but due to Dr. McKittrick's young and unfortunate passing wasn't something that came to fruition. The other person of influence on her career was the Associate Dean prior to Dr. Talbot, Dr. Jeanne Ferrante of the Computer Science and Engineering (CSE) department. She watched Dr. Ferrante reach full professor and work with different people in engineering. She is very wise and savvy, a dear friend and really influenced her thinking about her own career. They were peers who made her think about her career a lot differently. From these she learned to try to mentor other females and help them understand what they are capable of as women.

She feels it important for women to mentor other women. Mentorship helps others navigate a complicated and unknown situation, and she encourages everyone - especially anyone who may be disadvantaged in their career (underrepresented minority, first generation, etc) to consider mentorship. "Each experience is different - what you think of yourself in mentoring brings all talents and abilities forward while finding a place to fit in." People may not know they can do a lot of different things so offering guidance may present the landscape of flexibility and empowerment. One will never know if one will truly help another but she believes it is always worth a try.

Work/life balance is difficult, and particularly for females, another level of challenges arises. Dr. Talbot loved her job so she chose to put in extra hours. "As a female, working mom you may feel a lot of guilt spending time away from your child." She loves being a mom so she did a lot with her son, and she did bring help when life happened and still needed to show up for work (i.e. sick child). While it may have been hard to make time for a spouse or children, if you don't make time for it then trouble can occur. Dr. Talbot blocked out time to ensure she was there for her family. "If your family is not happy and you are not happy it has a ripple effect, and it will not go well for your career."

Advice she offers to current faculty: The size of the university has created a significantly larger scale of students to deal with. Since Dr. Talbot came to UCSD, the environment has changed a lot and she often feels her advice may not be as pertinent, but the main thing she can offer is as faculty you are asked to do a lot. To do that while maintaining what brings you joy in your job - do this. Do not lose sight of finding the joy among all the tasks required. "It can be a lot to cope with so figure out there isn't a 'right way' to do this job, and those variations of ways mean a variation of opportunities to see value. Contribute in your ways to bring value."

For current students who want to make the most of their experience at UCSD, she encourages them to empower themselves to become more familiar with faculty members of meaning and interest to them. It is important to navigate those relationships and remove the feeling of intimidation. "As a first-generation college student, we have to balance priorities (jobs, families, school) so make the best choices and be okay with working really hard and even getting a 'B' grade. If you have trouble, drop some extracurricular activities and try not to be distracted. Keep the focus on the academics and be sure to ask for help; there's a lot of it available and it is okay to ask for it."

Since retirement she has traveled around the world (Easter Island, Patagonia, New Zealand, Bhutan, Swiss Alps). For the past three years she has been training for National and World amateur aqua-bike competitions and Ride the Rockies, and this coming year, will be riding 6 days through the Rocky Mountains in Colorado.