SWE - Fall 2008 - (Page 94)

IN MEMORY Mary G. Ross SWE Fellow and Aerospace Pioneer, 1908-2008 amassed a number of accomplishments and firsts, including the distinction of being the first woman engineer employed by Lockheed Missiles and Space Company. In 1958, she appeared on the TV show “What’s My Line,” and because women engineers were a rarity, none of the panelists guessed her occupation. A SWE pioneer, Ross cofounded the Los Angeles Section in 1953. She was a member of the national executive committee and served as the Society’s treasurer. She chaired the national audit committee and was active in SWE’s career guidance programs. In 1982, Ross became a SWE Fellow. Ross thought of math as a game, describing the discipline as being “more fun than anything else.” After graduating from high school at age 16, Ross pursued her love of math by earning a bachelor’s degree in the subject from Northeastern State Teachers College in Tahlequah, Okla., in 1928. Following graduation, Ross taught high school math and science for nine years. She received a master’s in math from Colorado State College of Education in 1938 and worked as a statistical clerk for the Bureau of Indian Affairs. She joined Lockheed Aircraft in Burbank, Calif., in 1942, where she worked on developing military planes for the U.S. World War II effort. A Lockheed manager recognized her talents and encouraged her to become an engineer. In 1949, Ross received her engineering classification as a mechanical engineer, becoming Lockheed’s first woman engineer. Working her way through the ranks at Lockheed during the 1950s, by 1960 Ross was an integral part of the company’s aerospace research and development team. Ross was at the forefront of space technology, working on planning teams for missions to Mars, Venus, and outer planets. Her research was instrumental in the development of the Agena rocket, the first successfully launched space vehicle and forerunner to the Apollo program. Later, as a senior advanced systems staff engineer, Ross was part of the Poseidon and Trident missiles teams. She retired from Lockheed in 1973. An effective advocate Retirement brought new ventures for Ross as she continued to advocate for engineering. She encouraged women and American Indians to pursue careers in engineering and math and visited high schools and seminars to advise college-bound students. She worked with the American Indian Science and Engineering Society (AISES) and the Council of Energy Resource Tribes (CERT) to expand their educational programs. In 1984, AISES made Ross an honorary life member. CERT presented her with its achievement award, later renamed the Mary G. Ross Award. She received numerous other awards and honors befitting her valuable contributions to aerospace, including induction into the Silicon Valley Engineering Hall of Fame in 1992. Throughout her life, Ross remained humble about her vast accomplishments, attributing her successes to the combined efforts of herself and her colleagues. In an interview with SWE Magazine in 1999, she said, “I have always considered my work a joint effort. I was fortunate to have worked on great ideas and with very intelligent people. I may have developed a few equations no one had thought of before, but that was nothing unusual — everybody did that.” - Carol Polakowski, Associate Editor Sources SWE Magazine, November/December 1999 www.agnesscott.edu Cherokee Phoenix, May 2008 Mary Ross received many awards in honor of her lifetime of accomplishments yet remained humble, saying, “I have always considered my work a joint effort.” M ary G. Ross, the first American Indian woman engineer, died April 29, 2008, in Los Altos, Calif. She would have turned 100 in August. A Cherokee citizen, Ross was renowned for her work in the aerospace industry and as a role model and mentor for American Indians. The great-great granddaughter of John Ross, principal chief of the Cherokee from 1828 to 1866, Mary Ross came from an ancestral line that valued education as equally important for both genders. John Ross helped establish the first college for the Cherokee in 1850 with the opening of what is now Northeastern State University in Oklahoma, the same school from which Mary Ross received her first college degree. Her heritage played a role in her choosing a career that was at the time quite nontraditional for women. A trailblazer In an extraordinary career that covered nearly five decades, Ross 94 SWE FALL 2008 http://www.agnesscott.edu

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of SWE - Fall 2008

SWE - Fall 2008 Heritage Club Contents Farewell Message from FY08 President Michelle Tortolani Congratulations SWE Magazine A Conversation with FY09 President Virginia Connolly, P.E. Introducing the FY09 Board of Directors View from the Executive Suite Editor's Page Public Policy Update SWE Retention Study, Part 6 Membership Information & Calendar A&B SWE Member Kristina Johnson First Woman to Receive John Fritz Medal University Labs Fuel a New Era in Energy Women Engineering Leaders in Academe 2008 Opening the Gateways to Engineering Your Collegiate Section History is Waiting to Be Discovered Honoring the Legacy of Ada Pressman, P.E. Report from WEPAN Engineering World Proposed Bylaws Amendments Point of View Correction Career Toolbox Corporate Partnership Council Book Review SWE Smiles In Memory Opportunity Index SWE Scrapbook

SWE - Fall 2008

For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.