Page 39: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (October 2018)

Beckstoffer

One-on-one with Suzanne Beckstoffer, an accomplished engineering leader and business woman, the ? rst woman president in SNAME’s 125 year history

As the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers (SNAME) celebrates its 125th anniversary in 2018, it will celebrate another historical milestone at the start of 2019 when Suzanne M. Beckstoffer takes the helm of SNAME as president, the ? rst woman to hold this position in the association’s history. We met recently with Beckstoffer to discuss her distinguished shipbuilding career, as well as her insights on the value of SNAME as a powerful networking and career-building tool.

By Eric Haun

When did you ? rst know that setting me onto this terri? c engineer- and grateful for my career at the ship- you were destined for a career ing career path. She kindly wrote back, yard. Every time I see one of the ships I in maritime? actually remembered me, and seemed worked on in the news on some impor-

I became an engineer because of my pleased to know her teaching had made tant mission, I feel a sense of pride in 10th grade math teacher, Mrs. Baldwin. an impact. Well, about two months being part of something much bigger

We students all thought she was the later I learned that Mrs. Baldwin had than myself.

meanest old woman who ever lived, but died, and that my letter was read at her in fact she was an excellent teacher. funeral. I’m so pleased I got to tell her I remember my ? rst job interview in the

She even drove another girl and I to NC how much her in? uence had meant and Hull Technical Department in 1982. Mr.

State University for a weekend seminar I would encourage others to say thank Coward, the department head, was on engineering careers for women. I you to their teachers! talking on the phone when I arrived. I took one look at the water lab in the civil waited at the door until he ? nished his engineering building and I was hooked! Let’s discuss your shipbuilding conversation, when he spun around in career, speci? cally the chal- chair, saw me, and blurted out, “You

Later, when I graduated from college lenges of being a woman, ris- don’t look like an engineer, you look with my civil engineering degree, I really ing through the ranks in a ? eld more like a girl to me!” wanted to live near the coast and build dominated by men.

bridges. Unfortunately, no bridge-build- My mother never expected her daugh- We both had a good laugh, made our ing job offers came through, but ship- ter to work in a shipyard! My parents introductions, and carried on with the in- building was certainly near the water are both educators, and encouraged terview and plant visit. He turned out to and looked interesting, so I decided my academic interests, but I think they be a good mentor and friend, and in fact to try it. I am fortunate to have had so believed my love of math would lead I still make his She-Crab Soup recipe many exciting opportunities at Newport to a career in ? nance. Maybe now that for Thanksgiving and special events.

News Shipbuilding to use both my engi- I’m Chairman of the Board of BayPort Several of my bosses and colleagues neering and business skills. Shipbuild- Credit Union, they think I’m ? nally doing over the years also proved to be good ing was a great career choice! what they’d expected all along. mentors. Most were much older than I was and had children about my age. I

This is a good testament to the Newport News Shipbuilding is a great think some of them realized their own power of educators! place to work for anybody with the skills daughters would also join the workforce

It is. In fact, a few years ago I had and interest in shipbuilding. Our current and they were modeling the way they reached some signi? cant career mile- president Jennifer Boykin attended the hoped their family members would be stones and realized I’d never properly Merchant Marine Academy, and sev- treated. said “thank-you” to Mrs. Baldwin. I in- eral other vice-presidents are women. vestigated and found she was living in a Clearly the workforce has become more What do you consider your retirement community in my hometown, diverse since I started my career. greatest professional accom- so I sent her a letter telling her about Everyone has challenges, any job has plishment at NNS?

some of the interesting things I’d done, ups and downs, and anything worth Looking back over my 34-year career at and expressing my appreciation for her doing takes hard work, and I am proud NNS, I see a new technology theme in

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