Missy Cummings, one of the Navy's first female fighter pilots, will speak about conquering fears and achieving goals as a presentation of the Society of Women Engineers. Cummings' talk, titled "Breaking Down Barriers" is about her experiences as an aviation pioneer. She will speak twice on Thursday, April 11; at the University of Rochester and at the Rochester Institute of Technology.
"I'll be talking about my transformation from a small-town southern belle to a woman of strength as well as my experiences as an aviation pioneer," says Cummings.
Cummings received her bachelor's degree in mathematics from the United States Naval Academy in 1988 and her master's degree in space systems engineering from the Naval Postgraduate School in 1994. She spent ten years in the Navy and worked as an assistant program manager in a Navy industrial engineering plant. Her previous teaching experience includes instructing for the U.S. Navy at Pennsylvania State University, and most recently as an assistant professor for the Virginia Tech Engineering Fundamentals Division. She is currently on leave from Virginia Tech in order to finish her doctorate in the University of Virginia Systems Engineering department.
The presentation is free and open to the public. For more information, contact Lisa Norwood, (585) 275-4155.