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Women Engineers You Should Know: Florence Hudson

Women engineers make real change in the workplace and in our communities. We honor them in our SWE Magazine series “Women Engineers You Should Know.”
Women Engineers You Should Know
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Florence Hudson

This article is part of SWE Magazine’s Spring 2017 Issue. To view it on your mobile device, download the SWE Magazine app! Download it on the App Store or get it on Google Play.

Among the first women to graduate from Princeton University with a degree in mechanical and aerospace engineering, Florence Hudson has been committed to the advancement of women in engineering throughout her career. Whether working on future missions around Jupiter at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory just out of college, or during her 30-plus-year tenure at IBM, where she held significant leadership assignments, to her present position as senior vice president and chief innovation officer for Internet2, Hudson has consistently and clearly articulated the creative and innovative aspects of the profession and the importance of diversity.

Joining SWE while a student at Princeton, Hudson was president of the collegiate section. Years later, she was IBM’s executive on loan to SWE, serving as the special director of strategic planning on the SWE board of directors. Now a regular occurrence, Hudson was the first person to serve as a special director on SWE’s board.

Hudson’s commitment to outreach and preserving the history of women in engineering have been expressed in numerous ways, including laying the groundwork for SWE’s recent youth programs. She is married with two adult children.

Who Are the Women Engineers We Should Know?

women engineersQuite often, those who are behind the scenes and out of the limelight make real change in the workplace and in our communities. It is our intention to recognize such women and make their efforts better known in our SWE Magazine series “Women Engineers You Should Know.”

Casting a wide net, SWE Magazine staff and editorial board members seek contemporary women whose lives have embodied the Society’s mission to: “Stimulate women to achieve full potential in careers as engineers and leaders, expand the image of the engineering profession as a positive force for improving the quality of life, and demonstrate the value of diversity.”

Through a variety of means, including fielding suggestions and conducting archival research, we will examine the stories of many women who have made a difference in these critical areas. Determining a final list is a daunting challenge, and our selections are in no way meant to be definitive. While some names you may recognize, many are not recognizable to most people. From a variety of perspectives, in different environments and moments in time, these women represent “ordinary” when doing “extraordinary” things. In saluting them, we are saluting all the women, known and unknown, past and present, who have advanced our mission.

Nominate women engineers to know for our next article. The deadline for submission of names is December 15, 2017. Submit nominations here.

With each submission, please include the following.

  • Nominee info: name, why her, links supporting your nomination, areas of expertise, where is she located
  • Nominator info: name, email, how you know the nominee

Thanks for your help, and look for the Spring 2018 issue of SWE Magazine.

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