# Rochelle Diamond > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Rochelle_Diamond > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Rochelle_Diamond.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rochelle_Diamond > Source revision: 1350573382 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) **Rochelle Anne "Shelley" Diamond** is a research biologist, queer activist, and chair emeritus of [Out to Innovate](/source/Out_to_Innovate), formerly known as [National Organization of Gay and Lesbian Scientists and Technical Professionals](/source/National_Organization_of_Gay_and_Lesbian_Scientists_and_Technical_Professionals). She was the Director of [California Institute of Technology](/source/California_Institute_of_Technology)'s Flow Cytometry and Cell Sorting Shared Resource Laboratory 1982-2024 and also the Lab Manager for [Ellen Rothenberg](/source/Ellen_Rothenberg_(scientist))'s research lab (1982–present). ## Early life and education Diamond grew up in [Phoenix, Arizona](/source/Phoenix,_Arizona) and was a tomboy as a child.[2] After college, Diamond married a man who was a friend. Her husband was aware that she was lesbian, but was somewhat accepting. They divorced after 10 years of marriage.[2] Diamond came out to her family as lesbian in her 20s.[2] Diamond earned a dual bachelor's degree in [biochemistry](/source/Biochemistry) and [molecular biology](/source/Molecular_biology) from the [University of California, Santa Barbara](/source/University_of_California,_Santa_Barbara) in 1974.[2] ## Career Diamond was the applications specialist and Director of the [flow cytometry](/source/Flow_cytometry) and [cell sorting](/source/Cell_sorting) shared resource laboratory at the [California Institute of Technology](/source/California_Institute_of_Technology) in Pasadena, California (1982–2024). She also is the lab manager for [Ellen Rothenberg (scientist)](/source/Ellen_Rothenberg_(scientist))'s research lab.[2][3] The lab studies immature cells in the immune system and the signals that influence what specialist roles the cells take on.[3] She is a [Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)](/source/Fellow_of_the_American_Association_for_the_Advancement_of_Science) (elected 2008).[4] ## Activism Diamond became interested in activism after experiencing homophobia in her personal and professional life.[2] In 1981, she was forced out of City of Hope Research Institute where she worked because a coworker discovered she was gay and began sabotaging her lab experiments.[2][3] Diamond helped start the *National Organization of Gay and Lesbian Scientists and Technical Professionals* (NOGLSTP), now called [Out to Innovate](/source/Out_to_Innovate), an organization that enables young queer scientists to network with each other.[3] She is now the chair emeritus of the organization.[5][2][6] Diamond has devoted her work with NOGLSTP to empowering LGBTQ+ people in STEM and fighting against discrimination that LGBTQ+ individuals face in the workplace.[2][3] She believes that "scientists and engineers are more productive when they can be themselves".[3] Part of her work to increase the visibility of queer people in STEM includes keep a running list of "queer scientists of historical note" and supporting a mentoring program for young students and scientists to meet older people in their careers of choice.[2] ## Personal life Diamond married chemist Barbara Belmont after they met in the queer activist community in Los Angeles. They have been married for more than 30 years.[2] ## External links - [Queer Scientists of Historical Note list](https://www.noglstp.org/publications-documents/queer-scientists-of-historical-note/) ## References 1. ["Rochelle A. Diamond"](https://theoutwordsarchive.org/interview/rochelle-a-diamond/). *The Outwords Archive*. Retrieved 2024-04-15. 1. ["Queered Science: NOGLSTP's Rochelle Diamond Forged A Path For All of Us"](https://www.autostraddle.com/queered-science-rochelle-diamond-and-noglstp-202283/). *Autostraddle*. November 1, 2013. 1. Nelson, Bryn (May 14, 2019). ["Proud to be different in STEM"](https://www.sciencenewsforstudents.org/article/proud-be-different-stem). *Science news for Students* 1. ["Elected Fellows | American Association for the Advancement of Science"](https://www.aaas.org/fellows/listing) 1. Rubin, Allie (February 27, 2015). ["Ask a Scientist: Rochelle Diamond, Chair of the National Organization of Gay and Lesbian Scientists…"](https://web.archive.org/web/20231007114016/https://www.thehairpin.com/2015/02/ask-a-scientist-rochelle-diamond-chair-of-the-national-organization-of-gay-and-lesbian-scientists/). *[The Hairpin](/source/The_Hairpin)*. Archived from [the original](https://www.thehairpin.com/2015/02/ask-a-scientist-rochelle-diamond-chair-of-the-national-organization-of-gay-and-lesbian-scientists/) on October 7, 2023. 1. Ruttimann Oberst, Jacqueline (October 1, 2010). ["Closeted discoverers: Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender scientists"](https://www.science.org/content/article/closeted-discoverers-lesbian-gay-bisexual-and-transgender-scientists). *Science Mag* --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Rochelle Diamond](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rochelle_Diamond) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rochelle_Diamond?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.