2013 Convention - (Page 68)

Passing the Golden Torch T he NSBE Golden Torch Awards are the top honor given by the National Society of Black Engineers. Now in their 16th year, these awards recognize individuals and organizations that exemplify NSBE’s ideals of academic excellence, professional success and dedication to the advancement of the black community. The culminating event of NSBE’s Annual Convention, the NSBE Golden Torch Awards ceremony will take place this year on Saturday evening, March 30, at the Indiana Convention Center, in Indianapolis. The ceremony is a great show with a higher purpose. Since their inception, the NSBE Golden Torch Awards have provided millions of dollars in scholarships to talented high school seniors golDEn torCH lEgACY AwArD Pat walker locke President Life Plan Services LLC and Seeds of Humanity Foundation Inc. Pat Locke was raised in Detroit, Mich. A year after graduating from high school, she enlisted in the United States Army as a communication specialist and was assigned to Fort Polk, La. In January 1976, she was selected to attend the United States Military Academy Preparatory School and subsequently attended the United States Military Academy at West Point, N.Y. Locke graduated with the first class of women from the United States Military Academy, in 1980 and was commissioned as a combat arms officer in the Army. By Order of Merit, she is the first African-American woman to graduate from West Point. After leaving the academy, she served in many leadership positions with the Army worldwide. She retired from active service in 1995. Locke founded the Seeds of Humanity Foundation, Incorporated, to assist the training and development of underserved and underrepresented students and their influencers, specifically in ethics, leadership and science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education. She spends a good amount of her time working with STEM initiatives across the nation. Recently, she established Life Plan Services, LLC, whose mission is to train and develop core life skills for those in transition and on their “ascent to excellence.” Locke is one of three cochairs of the West Point Leadership and Ethics Conference for 8th and 11th graders in the Washington, D.C., area. She is a frequent speaker to many audiences, most often to students in schools everywhere. Locke has Master of Science degrees in education and administration. She resides in the National Capitol Region with her husband of 25 years, Michael Locke, and has a daughter, Sarah Locke, who is a West Point Cadet in the class of 2015. golDEn torCH lEgACY AwArD Joseph Irwin miller (Awarded Posthumously) Former Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Cummins Inc. Joseph Irwin Miller was chairman and chief executive officer of Cummins Inc. from 1934 until his retirement from the company in 1977, with time off for service during World War II. By the time he retired, he 68 • nsbe magazine • convention 2013 had taken Cummins from a primarily Indiana-based company to a Fortune 500 corporation with operations in multiple countries across the world. Born and raised in Columbus, Ind., Miller graduated from Yale University in 1931 and received his master’s degree from Oxford University in England in 1933. He married his wife, Xenia, in 1943, and the couple had five children. His strong beliefs in ethics, integrity and diversity led to a revolutionary approach to conducting business. He was a vocal proponent of workplace diversity many years ahead of his fellow corporate executives. He would only do business with companies that exhibited the same ethical values as Cummins, and he would not open operations in countries unless they followed those same values. Because of this, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. called him “the most socially responsible businessman in the country.” While he was a tremendous leader for Cummins, Miller also dedicated his personal life to service and equality. He helped establish the National Council of Churches and served as the organization’s first president, from 1960 to 1963. In that role, he was instrumental in sponsoring the March on Washington, which was led by Dr. King in 1963. Miller was ahead of his time, actively supporting civil rights legislation that eventually led to the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Miller’s legacy lives today in Cummins’ values, ethics, commitment to diversity and spirit of innovation. golDEn torCH lEgACY AwArD Earl shipp Vice President and Site Director of Texas Operations The Dow Chemical Company As vice president of Texas Operations, Earl Shipp is responsible for leading The Dow Chemical Company’s growth and operations at its Freeport site — the largest integrated chemical manufacturing complex in the world. He joined Dow in 1981 in Freeport, held several manufacturing positions over the next four years then progressed to leadership posts in the U.S. and abroad. He was named to his current office in 2011. Shipp has been an active part of every community in which he has resided. During his early professional life, he mentored African-American youth on career and opportunities in engineering and science. He worked in a unique outreach program with the Baton Rouge School System that utilized Dow facilities in the area. Today, Shipp is Dow’s corporate sponsor for the National Society of Black Engineers. In this position, he actively promotes and recruits Continued on page 70 www.nsbe.org http://www.nsbe.org

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of 2013 Convention

2013 Convention
Contents
Your 4.0…Guaranteed!
My Academic Comeback
THE PROGRAMS ZONE
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
Inga Brathwaite: Empowered at Toyota
Jerome Brown: Stoking the Engines at Aerojet
Christina Barker: On Track at PGW
Leveling Up
SEEK 2013 Update!
Back to Indiana
NSBE Calendar
Honoring Our Past, Driving Our Community Forward
Passing the Golden Torch
The Professional’s Perspective
Trailblazers
Petroleum Engineering Digs Deep for Talent
Employer Profiles
Celebrating Academic Excellence
Advertisers Index

2013 Convention