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BLACK ENGINEER OF THE YEAR AWARD WINNERS COMMUNITY SERVICE


Rhonda Thomas General Engineer Federal Aviation Administration


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n 1975, a near four- decade professional and personal commitment to sci- ence and technology began with a chat. Rhonda Thom- as was walking through her Maryland high school when a guidance counselor asked, “what are your college plans?” Thomas said she might study English and become a teacher. The counselor, who admired her strong math and scientific ability, suggested Thomas consider engineering. He told her about the Department of Defense’s then Pax-Tenn cooperative education program. It provided talented Black students financial assistance to attend Tennessee State University (TSU) to study engineering and offered summer in- ternships at a nearby Naval Air Test Center. Thomas says he then insisted that she submit an application immediately. Fast-forward, Thomas, the Pax-Tenn program’s first Black woman graduate, received her bachelor’s in electrical engineer-


DIVERSITY LEADERSHIP-GOVERNMENT


Barbara Miller, Ed.D., LCSW Director, Office of Diversity & Equal Opportunity NASA Ames Research Center


ing from TSU and became an engineer at the naval center. Dur- ing her now 36-year federal career, she rose from a GS level 2 making $25,000 annually to a GS 15 earning $124,000. For the past 20 years, Thomas has been a project engineer working on aviation research, development and implementation initiatives. At the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), she is a contract- ing officer technical representative for a project valued at $42 million, and does the same for the FAA enterprise communica- tion support services contract valued at $99 million. As she rose, Thomas vowed to give back. In 1998, the Delta


Sigma Theta Sorority Inc. member founded LEAP Forward Inc. to expose disadvantaged youth to science, technology, engineer- ing and math (STEM) with an emphasis on engineering. As of August 2012, more than 90 students in her native rural Maryland County had received college scholarships from the registered nonprofit, many for HBCUs, and about the same number have earned STEM degrees.


Thomas, who also received a master’s in systems manage- ment from the University of Southern California and a master’s in systems engineering from the University of Pennsylvania, notes the irony of her success and her philanthropy’s impact. “I didn’t even know what an engineer was or what they really did. I had no role models in high school…to introduce me to this exciting career option,” she said. “Exposure to STEM leads to an interest in STEM and then perhaps to the pursuit of STEM career options which increases the pipeline so needed by the United States.”


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arbara Miller is an equal opportunity and diversity cham- pion at NASA Ames Research Center. Over the past eight years, she has rolled out sustainable diversity and inclusion initiatives, as she maps the direction of equal opportunity policy. She played an integral part in a “Diversity Presentation Series” as well as plan and implementation activities. Dr. Miller also co- ordinated the first-ever “Diversity and Inclusion Day” at NASA Ames, enriching understanding of Ames’ diverse workforce and drawing record attendance for an inaugural event. Her collaboration with human resources, the Ames Office of Education and other directorates has promoted the representation of people of color, disabled workers and women. But she hasn’t stopped there, often going beyond external recruiting and sup- porting all seven NASA Ames employee resource groups. They include the Asian American Pacific Islander, African Ameri- can, Employees with Disabilities, Hispanic, Native American, Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgender Advisory Groups and the Women’s Influence Network. Prior to becoming the director of the Office of Diversity and Equal Opportunity, she was a diversity program manager at Bureau of Land Management. There, she was tasked to implement diversity programs for the state of California. Miller understands the diversity challenges tied to the goals of an or-


22 USBE&IT I WINTER 2013


ganization, what suc- cess means and how initiatives contribute to this greater pur- pose; increase talent acquisition, enhance performance and strengthen leadership skills. Her position at the land bureau al- lowed her to promote the positive effects diversity brings to the workplace.


In an ever-


evolving world of differences, her competence helps expand the defini- tion of diversity by encompassing fac- tors such as lifestyle, sexual orientation, learning styles, industry, positional power, etc. Dr. Miller has 34 years of federal service that includes employment with the Social Security Administration, Internal Revenue Service, Department of the Interior and the Department of Veteran Affairs. She was also an enlisted military member for nine years, acquired an of- ficer’s commission in 1992 and retired after 23 years of service as chief of the Military Equal Opportunity Office at the 129th Rescue Wing, a military installation located as a tenant at NASA Ames Research Center.


www.blackengineer.com


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