For centuries, Penn has inspired students to pursue bigger and better things. So it’s no surprise when these inspired students choose to inspire others.
1982 Engineering graduate Patricia Woody was one of four Penn graduates named ‘Women of Distinction’ by the Philadelphia Business Journal this year.
Working as a leader of NAVSSES — the Navy’s Naval Ship Systems Engineering Station based in the Philadelphia Naval Yard — and the head of Penn State’s engineering advisory board, Woody reflects on her journey to success as a woman engineer.
As Machinery Research and Engineering head at NAVSSES , she is in charge of overseeing the organization, including its 1,600 employees and $1 billion business assets.
Despite being a woman of distinction, Woody had humble beginnings. She grew up in a working class family and neither of her parents went to college. She and her five brothers and sisters worked their way through college. She said she considered her student loans to be “the most important bills she paid.”
“No one gave me a break or looked after me … but the foundation of my education made me a better person,” she said.
She chose Penn because she wanted to go to a school where there would be “progressive thinking,” and was drawn to the liberal arts education Penn offered. She felt this would make her “a better engineer and a better person.”
Woody’s high school science teachers and older brother, also an engineer, encouraged her to pursue the field of engineering. Because she didn’t want to teach, conduct research or go into nursing, it seemed like a favorable option.
“I never thought I’d stay with it,” she admits.
Not only did Woody eventually decide to stay with her career, but she is also trying to encourage others to enter the field. “My focus is on STEM [Science, Technology, Engineering and Math,] and to get more women and underrepresented [members of the population] into it,” she said.
Woody was encouraged by her colleagues Mary Lacey and Barbara Bogue, who works at Penn State with Woody, to help women and minorities enter the field. Lacey, former Technical Director of the Naval Surface Warfare Center, had recommended Woody to the board at Penn State. Lacey told Woody it was her “responsibility to promote women.”
Both Lacey and Bogue helped her realize how the lack of a sense of belonging could negatively impact retention rates in the field. Woody admits it was unsettling to enter the workforce and be seen as a “freak” because she was a female engineer. “It’s a tough environment” for women and minorities, she added.
Today, Woody heads Penn State’s engineering advisory board. During her time there, the board established a relationship with George Washington Carver High School in Philadelphia, providing support and resource groups for female and minority high school students. Their goal is to make the engineering field “more representative of the face of the nation.”
Woody has served as the head of the board for five years and over that time she’s “seen pretty big change” in the engineering work environment for women and minorities.
NAVSSES also offers many community outreach programs. These include a partnership with Tuskegee University that pays for engineering students to receive their masters degrees if they work for NAVSSES before starting graduate school.
In addition, NAVSSES offers a program at Temple University to offer engineering and science courses to select middle and high school students, and a Science, Engineering and Apprenticeship Program with George Washington Carver University that gives aspiring engineers the opportunity to work at NAVSSES from high school through college.
For Woody, her community service work has been “the most rewarding part of my career,” because she was able to “affect change,” she said.
The award, which was decided by a panel of twelve independent judges, selected nominees from the eight-county Greater Philadelphia region based on lifetime career achievement and community service. This year, roughly 300 women were nominated.
School of Veterinary Medicine dean Joan C. Hendricks, a 1979 Vet School graduate and 1979 School of Arts and Sciences doctoral recipient, was also among the winners.
1971 College and 1974 Penn Law graduate Marilyn Kutler and 1992 Masters recipient in City and Regional Planning Lisa Nutter were also honored with the award.
She added that four winners coming from Penn is “a real testament to the stimulating environment Penn provides.”
“Penn’s a very special place,” Woody added.
