Ph.D. student Missoury Lytle helps bring women together

Missoury Lytle is ending her second year of Ph.D. studies on a high note, receiving an award that recognizes her advocacy for women at Clemson University.

She has won an Award of Excellence for the Advancement of Women in the graduate category from the Clemson University Commission on Women.

Missoury co-founded the Clemson chapter of Women in Chemical Engineering, co-chaired the organizing committee for the 2022 Women’s Celebration Month and led an effort to provide free menstrual products to women in Earle Hall.

“It was really nice to be acknowledged, but I get help from a lot of people,” she said.

Missoury received her Bachelor of Science in chemical engineering at Olin College of Engineering in Massachusetts.

She is now pursuing a Ph.D. in chemical engineering under Dr. Eric Davis of Clemson. Missoury’s research focuses on making polymer membranes for water purification and drug delivery.

Missoury said Dr. Davis connected her to Women in Chemical Engineering, a sub-organization of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE). Women in Chemical Engineering has partner organizations at several universities across the country, and Missoury’s efforts helped bring a student chapter to Clemson.

“As part of a lab group that is mostly women, it seemed like the perfect opportunity,” Missoury said. “We wanted to make sure that non-chemical engineers and non- women were also partaking in the advocacy. It was a very good idea, and I was glad that our advisor brought it up.”

In her free time, Missoury enjoys playing competitive disc golf, and her advocacy for women extends to the sport. Men far outnumbered women at the recent 2022 College Disc Golf Championship in Marion, North Carolina, she said.

“It was really cool hanging out with women in that context, while also receiving this award, because we were all lifting each other up as we’re competing against each other,” Missoury said.

After receiving her Ph.D., Missoury would like to teach at the undergraduate level.