ASSE’s Women in Safety Engineering (WISE) Group Honors 100 Women Making a Difference in Safety
The American Society of Safety Engineers’ (ASSE) Women in Safety Engineering (WISE) Common Interest Group has honored 100 women from around the world for making a difference in the safety, health and environmental (SH&E) field as part of the WISE ‘100 Women, Making a Difference in Safety’ project. Women from around the world and throughout history have been honored for their dedication to protecting people, property and the environment and for going above and beyond to make a difference. ASSE congratulates all honorees for their outstanding achievements and contributions to workplace safety and health.
The following 100 women have made a difference through their hard work, dedication and innovation in the safety, health and environmental (SH&E) profession. ASSE members who have been honored are listed with their home chapter.
| Honoree’s Last Name | Honoree’s First Name | Employer | ASSE Chapter/Location |
| Abrams | Adele | Law Office of Adele L. Abrams PC | National Capital (Washington, D.C.) |
| Al – Shatti | Fetemah | Kuwait Petroleum Corporation | Safat, Kuwait |
| Anderson | Maribeth | O’Hare Airport, Crisis Training Center | Greater Chicago (Chicago, IL) |
| Anderson | Marjory | Architect of the Capitol | National Capital (Washington, D.C.) |
| Anderson | Mary | Inventor of the windshield wiper | Deceased, 1866-1953 |
| Armstrong | Mary | Boeing | Seattle, WA |
| Ballard | Sandra | DCP Midstream | New Mexico – Pecos Valley (Albuquerque, NM) |
| Berkowitz | Deborah | US Dept of Labor – OSHA | Washington, D.C. |
| Bernish | Kelly | Walt Disney Parks & Resorts, US | Central Florida (Orlando, FL) |
| Berryman | Linda | Devon Energy | Houston, TX |
| Bidez, Ph.D. | Martha | University of Alabama at Birmingham – School of Engineering | Alabama (Birmingham, AL) |
| Branche, PhD | Christine | Office of Construction Safety and Health, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) | National Capital (Washington, D.C.) |
| Braun | Cindy | Braun Safety Associates, LLC | Colorado (Denver, CO) |
| Brown | Michelle | Alutiiq, LLC | Greater Tidewater (Norfolk, VA) |
| Burton | Kimberly | North Carolina Voluntary Protection Programs (VPP) Board | Raleigh, NC |
| Campbell | Bobbie | Department of Energy, Washington Closure Hanford | Lower Columbia Basin (Richland, WA) |
| Carroll | Margaret | Margaret M. Carroll Company, LLC | New Mexico (Albuquerque, NM) |
| Carson | Rachel | Marine Biologist/Conservationist | Deceased, May 27,1907-April 14, 1964 |
| Carter | Jennifer | Jewish Hospital & St. Mary’s HealthCare | Louisville, KY |
| Cekada | Tracey | Indiana University Pennsylvania – Safety Sciences Department | Western Pennsylvania – Indiana University (Pittsburgh, PA) |
| Coffey | Kathy | Grayhawk, LCC | Louisville, KY |
| Collins | Sofie | Shaw Air Force Base in Sumter, South Carolina | Sumter, SC |
| Conley | Ann | Chubb Commercial Insurance | New Jersey (Newark, NJ) |
| Cortez | Diana | US Dept of Labor – OSHA | Hudson River Valley (Carmel, NY) |
| Cullen, PhD | Elaine | Prima Consulting Services Inc. | Inland Northwest (Spokane, WA) |
| Demarest | Michelle | Walt Disney Parks & Resorts, US | Central Florida (Orlando, FL) |
| DiDominico | Angela | Liberty Mutual Research Institute for Safety | Hopkinton, MA |
| Dixon | Sherry | Kapstone Paper and Packaging Corporation | Low Country (Charleston, SC) |
| Dobson | Kathleen | Alberici Constructors | Greater Detroit (Detroit, MI) |
| Dole | Elizabeth | Politician/ Former U.S. Secretary of Transportation (1981-1983) | Washington, D.C. |
| Earl | Heather | Walt Disney Parks & Resorts, US | Central Florida (Orlando, FL) |
| Ennis | Trish | Denver Zoo | Colorado (Denver, CO) |
| Erdman, CIH, CSP | Joy | US Navy | NoVa (Fairfax, VA) |
| Evers | Lee | Pfizer – Richmond location | Richmond, VA |
| Feeney | Fay | Envision Strategic Group | Los Angeles (Los Angeles, CA) |
| Feitshans, JD, ScM | Illise | International Labour Organization | Philadelphia (Philadelphia, PA) |
| Gilbert-Jones | Illa | SAIF Corporation | Columbia-Willamette – Mt. St. Helens (Portland, OR) |
| Hamilton | Alice | Pioneer in toxicology; Leading Expert in Occupational Health | Deceased, February 27, 1869-September 22, 1970 |
| Hansell | Cathy | Breakthrough Results | Florida Suncoast (Fort Myers, FL) |
| Hart, PhD | Katherine | ClearVision Consulting | San Francisco (San Francisco, CA) |
| Helgerman | Stephanie | Battelle Memorial Institute | Central Ohio (Columbus, OH) |
| Hemmer | Melanie | Divane Bros. Electric Company | Greater Chicago (Chicago, IL) |
| Howry | Rebecka | Department of Corrections, Washington State | Tumwater, WA |
| Jackson | Kimberly | Spectra Energy | Gulf Coast (Houston, TX) |
| Johnson | Maureen | IBM | Worcester County (Worcester, MA) |
| Klein | Natalie “Lee” | Former Training Aids officer in the U.S. Marine Corps; head of the Cal/OSHA High Hazard Unit | Deceased, 1928-2009 |
| Knight | Margaret | American Inventor | Deceased, February 14, 1838-October 12, 1914 |
| Kotlas | Maureen | Formerly of Harvard University | Greater Boston (Boston, MA) |
| Kwolek | Stephanie | Polish-American chemist who invented Kevlar | Deceased |
| Laws | Angela Marie | DOT FAA- Mike Monroney Aeronautical Center | Former Oklahoma City member (Oklahoma City, OK) |
| Lehmann | Dorothy | Conectiv Energy | Delmarva (Salisbury, MD) |
| Lindsey | Denise | Day & Zimmermann Security Services | Greater Chicago (Chicago, IL) |
| Liske | Elizabeth | Chevron (Bakersfield, CA) | Bakersfield (Bakersfield, CA) |
| Luther | Madhu | New York City School Construction Authority | New York City (New York City, NY) |
| McCauley | Susan | Maryland Environmental Service | Chesapeake (Baltimore, MD) |
| McDaniel | Deborah | Koch Nitrogen Company | Wichita (Wichita, KS) |
| McDevitt | Joyce | System Safety Consultant (Independent) | Former National Capital member |
| McOmie | Nicole | JH Kelly, LLC | Former Columbia-Willamette – Mt. St. Helens member |
| Merritt | Carolyn | Former Chair of U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (2002-2007)
|
Deceased , August 29, 2008 |
| Mosshammer | Becky | Producers Cooperative Oil Mill | Former Oklahoma City member (Oklahoma City, OK) |
| Muncy | Connie | Montgomery County Water Services | Kitty Hawk (Dayton, OH) |
| Muth | Alison | Messer Construction Company | Former Southwestern Ohio member (Cincinnati, OH) |
| Norris, CSP, ARM, CPSI | Terrie | Bickmore Risk Services | Orange County (Anaheim, CA) |
| North | Teri | Dade Moeller and Associates, Inc | Lower Columbia Basin (Richland, WA) |
| Perkins | Frances | First woman appointed to cabinet; U.S. Secretary of Labor 1933-1945; Witness to the March 25, 1911 Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire that killed 146 women and men; www.asse.org/newsroom for more information
|
Deceased, April 10, 1880-May 14, 1965 |
| Pozniak | Eldeen | Owner/Operator: Pozniak Safety Associates, Inc. | International Member (Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada) |
| Reed | Patrise | Champion Technologies | Gulf Coast (Houston, TX) |
| Rhodes | Kristie | Williams Plant Services, LLC | Tucker, GA |
| Rhodes | Linda | Commonwealth Edison (Chicago, IL) | Greater Chicago (Chicago, IL) |
| Riepenhoff | Tracey | LJB Inc. | Maumee Valley (Toledo, OH) |
| Roth | Cindy | CEO/Founder: Ergonomic Technologies Corp. | New York City (New York City, NY) |
| Russell | Marlene | Monsanto | Indianapolis, IN |
| Scott | Maureen | DuPont Protection Technologies | Great Plains (Omaha, NE) |
| Seabrook, CSP, CMIOSH, | Kathy | Owner/Operator/President: Global Solutions, Inc. ( | New Jersey (Newark, NJ) |
| Seekford, RN BSN COHN-S CCM | Michelle | Owner: Valley Case Management and Consulting Services | McGaheysville, VA |
| Shea | Roberta | Owner/President: Safety Compliance Services, LLC | Greater Detroit (Detroit, MI) |
| Silva | Mary | Maryl Group, Inc. | Hawaii (Honolulu, HI) |
| Snow | Mary Kay | National Reconnaissance Office | National Capital (Washington, D.C.) |
| Sprickman | Janet | ASSE member for more than 50 years; Helped develop one of the first nation-wide school safety programs and the first emergency medical technician training course | Deceased, Former National Capital member, (Washington, D.C.) |
| Stegall | Diana | United Heartland Insurance | Northwest (Minneapolis, MN) |
| Stewart | Ellen | U.S.Army Corp of Engineers | National Capital (Washington, D.C.) |
| Stoll | Alice | Contributed to development of flame-resistant clothing; The Stoll Curve is used as a benchmark for the level of flame-retardant clothing that should be worn | Deceased |
| Stout | Nancy | National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) | Northern West Virginia (Clarksburg, WV) |
| Sullivan | Christine | Lockton Companies, Ltd | Colorado (Denver, CO) |
| Swaim | Jennifer | Terex Corporation | Puget Sound (Seattle, WA) |
| Tally | Betty | Owner/Operator: Tally & Associates | Central Texas (Austin, TX) |
| Tapp | Linda | Owner/Operator: Crown Safety LLC | Penn-Jersey (Trenton, NJ) |
| Thomas | Jan | Owner/Operator/President: Circle Safety & Health Consultants | Colonial Virginia (Richmond, VA) |
| Thompson | Marcella | University of Rhode Island | Greater Boston – Ocean State (Boston, MA) |
| Vazquez | Dina | Owner/Operator Safety & Quality Plus | New York City (New York City, NY) |
| Walaski (Ferrante) | Pam | President: JC Safety & Environmental, Inc | Western Pennsylvania (Pittsburgh, PA) |
| Watson | Robin | Bureau of Workers’ Compensation (BWC), State of Ohio | Columbus, OH |
| West | JoAnn | Retired | New Jersey (Newark, NJ) |
| White | Judith | KaMin Performance Minerals | Georgia (Atlanta, GA) |
| Wigfall | Terry | U.S. Congressional Office of Compliance | Chesapeake (Baltimore, MD) |
| Wilson | Mary Lou | Wildish Construction Company | Cascade (Eugene, OR) |
| Wisniewski | Barbara | McWane, Inc | Alabama (Birmingham, AL) |
| Woodruff | Carol | Sandler Occupational Medicine Associates | National Capital (Washington, D.C.) |
| Zimmerman | Michelle | Alvarado Street Bakery, Petaluma, CA | San Francisco – Grapevine (San Francisco, CA) |
| Zipeto | Jennifer | Walt Disney World Parks & Resorts US | Central Florida (Orlando, FL) |
The ‘100 Women, Making a Difference in Safety’ project honors women who, throughout history, have dedicated their careers to promoting innovation in safety, health and environmental issues. The valuable contributions of women to the SH&E profession have been recognized through this project and later this year WISE will consolidate the profiles of all 100 honorees into a single publication, titled 100 Women, Making a Difference in the Safety, Health and Environmental Profession as part of ASSE’s (1911-2011) 100th anniversary.
The ASSE Central Florida, Gulf Coast, Long Beach, National, New Jersey and Wichita chapters, along with the Green Mountain Section, helped sponsor this project, as did the following corporations: ABB, Inc., Breakthrough Results, CLYM Environmental Services, EME International Ergonomic Technologies Corporation, Global Safety Solutions, Green Mountain Section, Industrial Piping Companies, Law Offices of Adele Abrams, Lin Jen Promotions Inc., LJB Inc., Monsanto Company, PK Safety Services, Prima Consulting Services, Safety & Quality Plus, SOMA, SPAN Safety Workshops, SSI OSHA Company, STEP Safety Solutions Inc., Summit Training Source, Texas Energy, Texas Eastern Transmission, Travelers Insurance, Utility Contractors, and Walt Disney World Parks & Resorts.
WISE was established to foster the advancement of women in the SH&E profession. The group provides professional development opportunities, evaluates the ongoing state of women in SH&E, mentors women in the profession, provides opportunities for women to obtain professional certifications and promotes the development and peer review of written material related to issues specific to women in the SH&E workplace. For more information about WISE and upcoming events, please visit www.asse.org/practicespecialties/wise/mission.php.
Founded in 1911 and celebrating its centennial, the Des Plaines, IL-based ASSE is the oldest professional safety society and is committed to protecting people, property and the environment. Its more than 34,000 occupational safety, health and environmental professional members lead, manage, supervise, research and consult on safety, health, transportation and environmental issues in all industries, government, labor, healthcare and education. For more information, please go to www.asse.org and to view the new ASSE – A Century of Safety film go to www.asse.org/assecenturyofsafety.