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Mrs.
Cynthia Oliver Coleman is no stranger to the NSBE family. She has been an
involved member for many years and inspires so many young women & men to
pursue their engineering dreams. If you have never seen this woman or don't
know too much about her let me share a brief history segment of her.
Mrs. Coleman is the first African-American female to
graduate from University of Houston (UH) with a chemical engineering degree.
Coleman, who grew up in Houston's Third Ward, became the first in her family to
attend college in 1967. A love of chemistry and math steered her toward
engineering, a decision she learned early on was far from easy.
"With me being the only girl and only black in class,
there was not really anyone to talk to," she remembers. "Everybody was kind of
like she is here, but she is not going to come back next semester.' I was
saying the same thing."
That was until the start of her junior year when she met
Professor Frank Worley, her advisor.
"He seemed to be sure that I could do it when no one else
was," she said. "He encouraged me to stretch more than I thought I could and
prepared me for striving and trying when you don't think you can do it."
In 1971, she became the first African-American female to
graduate from University of Houston with a chemical engineering degree. This
milestone and Worley's encouraging words would carry her through her next
challenge— a workplace devoid of women.
"I found myself in a similar situation that I had
encountered at UH by me being the first woman engineer in Exxon's East Texas
division," she said, noting it would be nearly a decade before more women
trickled in.
These experiences are why she has devoted her time to more
than 10 organizations and committees at the university and across the Greater
Houston area.
"I
always wished to see another woman engineer, but I could rarely find one," she
remembers of her time at UH and later at ExxonMobil. "I find myself
volunteering so that I can be around for other students who might wish that
they could see one, talk to one. It's just me kind of giving back what I wish I
had had."
Cynthia
Oliver Coleman has dedicated the majority of her life to advancing women and
minorities in engineering. She is a wonderful advocate of letting her life be a
blessing to those around her, weather young or old.
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The mission of NSBE is to increase the number of culturally responsible Black engineers who excel academically, succeed professionally, and positively impact the community.
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