La Vista
HE&IT: Talk about your own path. What made you want to be an engineer?
Harris: It started with the influence of my chemistry teacher in high school. I was planning on being an English teacher. I had skipped my senior year because I was one of those nerdy students who had taken all my courses, the physics, the algebra, the calculus and all of that. I was finished. But in my last term, we took a trip to the Savannah River nuclear plant. They were talking about how engineering was opening up for women and for young people. They talked about all the travel and money to be made. Engineering, as you know, remains the top-paying undergraduate major you can take. I literally switched my plans right after that field trip. A trip to the plant changed my life.
HE&IT: Why did you want to work for the federal govern- ment after such a long, successful career in the private sector?
Harris: It is one of those moments in your life where you want to leave a legacy. The timing was also good. I have been working with entrepreneurs quite a bit, being on the board of
Dot Harris speaks live to WBIR, a Knoxville, Tenn., television station, the morning of the Energy Department/National Nuclear Security Administration Small Business Summit.
the American Association of Blacks in Energy. A job like this af- forded me the opportunity to touch not only African-American businesses, but also all kinds of small businesses. Education is big for me. So what better agency to help me continue my mentorship and support of young kids in STEM?
8 HISPANIC ENGINEER & Information Technology | 2012
www.hispanicengineer.com
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