P. Gay Baughman ’81 recalls how she and other women were treated differently than male students.��

“I’d be the only female taking a particular oral exam, and the professor would ask me all the questions,” she said. “I dealt with what seemed like unfairness by changing my personality. I became very quiet, because if you became small maybe they wouldn’t notice you as much.”  

Upon graduation, Baughman said she found her voice again as a business owner, setting up a dental practice in Louisville’s Fairdale community and, as someone who loves learning, participating in numerous continuing education courses. Throughout her career, Baughman found support through the Kentucky Association of Women Dentists.  

“My son was born in 1986. I had no family nearby and my husband traveled. Through this organization, we would share with one another about how to manage the challenges of being both a dental professional and a mother,” she said. “Women carry the weight and responsibilities of parenthood differently than men. Even among dental students who become parents while in school, it is more difficult for women.”  

After 28 successful years in private practice, Baughman joined the School of Dentistry faculty in 2007, determined to give female dental students a better experience than her own. Baughman has helped female students gain a sense of belonging in part by launching a student chapter of the .��

Third-year dental student Nikki Sanders is president of UofL’s AAWD chapter.��

“I have always been a huge advocate of women supporting women,” Sanders said. “We provide an outlet for discussions about the gender disparities that still exist in our profession, advocate for more equality for all women and take part in efforts to support women outside the profession through outreach, including clothing drives for the Center for Women and Families.” 

Sanders says she’s grateful for the lifelong friends in AAWD and for Baughman, whom she considers a mentor. In return, Baughman hopes female dental students now have an easier path forward and she is glad to be a part of their lives.��

“I get up every day and say ‘I’m going to dental school!’ – I love these kids,” she said. “I hope I am half as good for them as they are for me.” 

Paula Johnson, a doctorate of nursing practice student, says it is important to pause and commemorate the milestone and think about the advancement of women.��

“It is truly amazing that all four of my daughters and I are in school at UofL in the year that we, as women, celebrate our progress in issues of equal rights, including our right to vote,” she said.

With two daughters pursuing engineering degrees, one step-daughter earning a business degree and one step-daughter following in Johnson’s footsteps to become a nurse, Johnson says she is extremely proud.

“You have to do what you love and make a career out of your naturally given talents,” she said. “There are lots of mountains to go over in school but I encourage the girls to remember they are going over them in order to do what they love.”

For Johnson, it is a passion for nursing, and a goal to teach the next generation.

She has been in the nursing profession for 30 years, including working as an advanced practice nurse for 23 years.

“After working so many years as a nurse practitioner, I have a lot to share and want to reflect that to students who don’t know what we have come from as a profession and where we are going – why we have to be evidence-based and perform at a very high level,” she said.

Johnson says she had a great opportunity to interact with medical students and residents, along with nursing students while working 14 years for UofL Pediatric Neurology before transitioning to Norton Medical Group – Child Neurology.

She is hopeful for her future, and can’t wait to see her daughters launch into their own careers upon graduation.

“I was always guiding my daughters – asking them what classes they liked in school and helping them figure out what they loved to do,” she said.

And, in the year of this historic centennial and progress of women’s rights, Johnson says she is reminded they can all strive toward what they dream of becoming.