Meet 2025 Smith Medalist Iris González

Just a few years out of college, Iris González ’11 wrote a book about her journey as a first-generation student in STEM. The Wedge Effect chronicled her experiences as a young woman of color looking for ways to make a difference in her field.

In the years since, González—who grew up in inner-city Boston in a family of Puerto Rican heritage—has continued that quest. Her path has taken her from industrial engineering to health-care administration, including in her current post as chief operating officer for North America of IVI RMA Global, a leading reproductive medicine group.

Her Smith studies in engineering gave her “a sense of how to think critically” and “ask the right questions,” González says. And her determination to bring a variety of voices to the table has been a hallmark of her leadership in business and philanthropy—including as president of the Lucky Lightyear Foundation, which builds community among LGBTQ+ people and allies.

In a profile story after she was named one of South Florida Business Journal’s “2003 Diverse Voices,” González noted that, “Being surrounded by teams that reflect the communities we serve should be everyone’s responsibility…. Teams of individuals with different lived experiences bring richer ideas and perspectives to the difficult questions we need to solve for.”

During Rally Day on Feb. 20, González will join three other remarkable alums in receiving the Smith Medal. In an interview before the ceremony, she spoke about her Smith experience and her hopes for the future.

What would you say is your proudest accomplishment?
“I’d have to say what we did at ChenMed [health care for seniors] during COVID. I was part of a task team figuring out how we were going to show up for, at that point, 150,000 seniors—vulnerable people who were primarily Black and brown, and 70 percent of whom were suffering from loneliness. That meant they had no sort of community around them, no family members to lean on. We knew the stakes were high and we needed to ensure that we had a telemedicine function. Within a two-week period, we swapped our patient population over to a virtual care environment. And we still had team members who were in our centers every single day for our patients. I’d say that was the proudest moment: What we were able to accomplish putting others ahead of self, while also taking care of self through community.”

What’s a lesson you learned at Smith that you still rely on today?
“I would get back to the basics of the open curriculum—the opportunity to challenge yourself academically and stretch and expose yourself to different topics. I was an engineering major and my minor was Africana studies. The engineering foundation gives you a sense of how to think critically, how to evaluate systems, contemplate upstream/downstream impacts, ask the right questions, and mine for information.”

“I’ve always prided myself on being resourceful, and I leaned a lot on my fellow Smithies. I’ve had Smithies since I was a first-year and they were seniors and all the way through. I would ask questions and they’d share their experiences. I was unapologetic about picking up those ideas from classmates about what was working well, what they were doing, and trying to learn and build from them.”

What major issues would you like to see Smithies tackling?
“I think Smithies are tackling the major issues of the world today! The most profound one is climate change and climate impact. And there is so much incredible work being done on that. I remember being a student of [Associate Professor of Engineering] Denise McKahn’s in her first year at Smith. I did my paper on geothermal engineering and what it would look like if you used Paradise Pond to fuel the President’s House with clean energy. Now, I get updates about all the geothermal work on campus that will lead Smith to be carbon neutral.

“For issue number two, I’d make a pitch for health care. We are all patients, or there’s someone that we know and love who is a patient. There’s so much work still to be done to provide dignified quality care in a way that doesn’t bankrupt people. When we think about the transformation of health care, primary care, proactive care—certainly, Smithies could consider health care as something to be interested in solving.”

What does it mean for you to receive the Smith Medal, and do you have any special memories of Rally Day?
“For me, this is such an honor and a full circle moment. I remember attending many a Rally Day as a student and I remember being a senior and wearing my [engineering major] hard hat. I never imagined myself as someone being honored on the other side. Rally Day is such an inspirational forum—a place where things start becoming real. You recognize that, ‘Hey, I’m a senior and in my last semester.’ You’re closing this experience, this chapter of the book, while opening up another one. I see Rally Day as a profound moment to be in as a Smithie, and now to return to.”

What advice do you have for this year’s seniors?
“The track I took, I had an entire plan—a calendar from January through May where I was tapping into Five College Consortium events, tabletops, ways to practice mock interviews, any way to fully prepare myself. If you’re choosing to go into the workforce, you’re setting your foundation. Sometimes, it doesn’t look exactly the way you might have had in your mind. So maintaining that tenacity and ambition that Smithies are known for, that sort of optionality and flexibility of what your next step looks like. That’s something that will suit you well at this time.”