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The first woman tapped to lead the National Academy of Sciences has been blazing a path for female scientists for decades.

Marcia McNutt’s bio is peppered with firsts: She was the first woman to direct the US Geological Survey, the first woman to run the prestigious journal Science — and likely the first woman to roar into the MIT parking lot on a fiery red motorcycle to teach a course in geophysics.

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So it came as a shock to her many admirers when McNutt and her editorial staff at Science recently came under fire for several incidents that seemed to reinforce sexist stereotypes. One was an advice column that counseled a young female scientist to “put up with” her male boss sneaking glances down her shirt.

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