SWE - Spring 2009 - (Page 53)

than lost. The only way I found her was through SWE. I want to be the welcoming SWE hand for other women transitioning into a career, and that is why I stay involved. I joined a national SWE committee, and I stepped into a committee chair for the Wichita Section. It still amazes me how welcoming SWE is all over the nation. I feel that I can walk into a room full of people I’ve never met, and not be in a room of strangers. SWE is not just a cause, it is the glue holding and extending both my professional and social networks. I doubt I would have ever been able to finish college with a degree in engineering without the Society. The Society has taken me so much further than a degree, and I plan to help contribute to its success. Founding women of SWE, I wish I had words greater than “thank you” to express my great appreciation for your commitment. Since actions speak louder than words, I will go and help the future generations discover passion and acceptance in engineering. I will strive to live up to your legacy. With much gratitude, Kate Van Dellen THIRD PLACE How a Member of SWE Saved My Career and My Marriage, and Propelled Me to a Life of Challenges and Rewards By Nancy Hunley This is a story about the impact one SWE member had on my career, and how she made such a difference in my life. The year was 1972 — eight years after the passage of the Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibiting employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, and national origin, and nine years after the Equal Pay Act of 1963, which prohibits sex-based wage discrimination between men and women in the same establishment who are performing under similar working conditions. It was that year I decided to marry. The im- pact of that decision brought far more trepidation than I had anticipated. As with most decisions made in my youth, the situation began innocently. After working my way through engineering school as a cooperative education student at NASA, I graduated and began working as a mechanical engineer with the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) in Knoxville. With a mechanical engineering degree and multiple nuclear engineering courses on my resume, I had the background highly desired by the electric utility industry. Shortly after I began working as an engineer, I met my husband-to-be, a civil engineer with TVA working in another building and department. We began dating and did not give much credence to a company policy called a nepotism policy. This policy did not preclude relatives from working for the agency, including husbands and wives. It did, however, set a maximum combined salary for a married couple if both worked anywhere within the agency. That salary was twice the starting salary for an engineer. After three years of experience each, we were both above that level. After our marriage, the policy would require us to make several lifechanging decisions. Unknown to me at the time, the human resources department placed a copy of our engagement announcement in my file with the handwritten words: “We will have to terminate her,” even though I had more seniority than my husband. Within several days, I was called into a closed door meeting with a human resources representative who attempted to get me to agree to resign my engineering position, continue to do the same work, but accept reclassification to a designer level, with a significant salary reduction. No such meeting was held with my husband. When I told the representative that neither of us “agreed to leave,” I was told I would be terminated with cause if I proceeded with my In keeping with the Lava Lounge theme, lava lamps were given to the top three entries. SWE SPRING 2009 53

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of SWE - Spring 2009

SWE - Spring 2009 Heritage Club Contents President's Note View from the Executive Suite Editor’s Page Honoring Women’s History Public Policy Update First Lady: The “Second-Hardest Job in America” Bringing Science and Engineering into Public Policy At the Intersection of Engineering and Public Policy From Research to Reality Coffee Table Dialogues Membership Information & Calendar A&B Winning Essays from the Lava Lounge Engineering World: Issues • Events • Technology • People Point of View: Your Role in Public Policy Career Toolbox: Communicating with Congress; Finding Your Voice Corporate Partnership Council Media Shelf: Women’s History Opportunity Index SWE Scrapbook: Dressed for Success

SWE - Spring 2009

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