Susan L. Lindquist, a researcher at Whitehead Institute – which she ran for three years — was one of 10 U.S. scientists awarded a National Medal of Science at a White House ceremony yesterday.

A key researcher in the study of protein folding, she was also the first female to head the MIT-affiliated institute.

In an interview with the MIT student newspaper, The Tech, she talked what it was like to be a woman scientist when she started her career.

“As a graduate student I was just so excited about the world of molecular biology. It was such a thrilling time to be involved in science but at the same time, it was rather a bleak time in terms of women. I never even hoped to have my own lab one day. My imagination was that I was going to be working in the corner of some man’s laboratory.”

Then, her research took a turn for the better. Lindquist says that she “was lucky enough to get into some new exciting areas in science. And slowly, slowly I began to believe in myself. I have been absolutely thrilled that I was so lucky and fortunate to find myself at a major turning point in biological science and that happened to be a time for turning point for women.”

Here’s a White House video of the event — Lindquist is in red: