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Seize opportunities: Nathelyne Kennedy In 1959, Kennedy became the first Black woman to receive an engineering degree from a school in Texas. Here, she reflects on her more than 55 years of experience since then.
ByWSB
I n 1959, Nathelyne Archie Kennedy became the first Black woman to receive an engineering degree from a school in Texas. She is the president and founder of Nathelyne A. Kennedy & Associates, Inc., a Houston-based civil engineering firm that was acquired by WSB in 2019. Committed to advancing the engineering profession, Kennedy has served on the Texas Turnpike Authority Board of Directors and on advisory committees for Texas Southern University, University of Houston Downtown, and her own alma mater, Prairie View A&M University. In 2006 Prairie View named the Nathelyne Archie Kennedy Building, housing the School of Architecture and Art, in her honor. Here, Nathelyne reflects on her more than 55 years working in the engineering industry. “I hope to see more women heading up their own firms,” Kennedy says. “Engineering is not a male field, it’s just male dominated. I would like to see more women seize opportunities.”
A CONVERSATIONWITH NATHELYNE KENNEDY. WSB: How did you end up in engineering?
Nathelyne Kennedy: I decided to major in engineering after one of my teachers brought it to my attention. My original plan was to major in math and become a teacher like my father. I thought, “If this doesn’t work out, I can always be a teacher,” so I decided to major in engineering. I found out when I started school that there were only two women majoring in engineering and only one graduated – me. After that, things moved fast. I didn’t know that I was the first Black female to receive an engineering degree in Texas. In the beginning, I struggled to get hired even though I graduated at the top of my class. The men easily found employment over me. But eventually, I was hired by an engineering firm after they decided to give me a one-week trial in Chicago. I pounded the pavement hard in Chicago and eventually moved on to a mid-
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