Dr. Irene Peden Named To Kings Pt. Advisory Board

Dr. Irene Carswell Peden, an educator, radio scientist, and leader in an effort to involve women in professional engineering careers, has become the first woman to be named to the Advisory- Board at the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy in Kings Point, N.Y.

Commerce Secretary Juanita M.

Kreps, who last year became the first woman to head the U.S. Department of Commerce, announced the appointment.

Dr. Peden, professor of electrical engineering and associate dean, College of Engineering at the University of Washington in Seattle, will serve a three-year term as one of the seven advisors to the Academy, which trains young men and women for service as licensed officers in the U.S.

merchant marine.

The Academy is a four-year accredited institution under the direction of the Maritime Administration (MarAd), an agency of the Commerce Department. The objective of the Advisory Board is to examine the Academy's management and course of instruction, and advise the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Maritime Affairs (who also heads Mar Ad) regarding policy program guidance.

Kings Point set a significant precedent in coeducation in 1974 when MarAd revised its policy and regulations to permit the nomination and appointment of women as m i d s h i p m e n at the Academy, the first of the U.S.

service academies to do so. The initial class including women candidates arrived at Kings Point in July of that year, and will graduate in June 1978.

Dr. Peden was a successful engineer in industry before her 1961 appointment at the University of Washington. She is listed in Who's Who in Engineering. She was the first woman engineer/ scientist to conduct field work in the interior of the Antarctic Continent.

She holds a B.S. degree from the University of Colorado and M.S. and Ph.D. d e g r e e s f r om Stanford University, all in electrical engineering.

In 1973, she r e c e i v e d the Achievement Award, highest honor of the Society of Women Engineers, which cited her for her contributions to radio science and e n g i n e e r i n g education, and in 1974 was named a Distinguished Engineering Alumnus by the University of Colorado.

Dr. Peden is a Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, and presently is serving a second 1-year term as IEEE's vice president for Education Activities.

She has been an advisor and consultant to or member of a number of other international, government, academic, and scientific organizations. Her memberships in honorary and professional societies include Tau Beta Pi, Sigma Xi, Mortar Board, and the New York Academy of Sciences.

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