Alumna supports new generations of women engineers
Carrie Maykuth Gordon was pretty much born a Buckeye. Her father, Dan, was a newly minted metallurgical engineer at Battelle when he invited Carrie’s mother, Celia Forsyth, to attend the 1948 Ohio State-Michigan game. The trick was finding someplace for her to stay.
According to Gordon, the extended engineering community provided. Mrs. Nathaniel Wright Lord, widow of the first Dean of Engineering at Ohio State graciously provided a room in her boarding house for Celia. Dan thanked Mrs. Lord with flowers, and Mrs. Lord put in a good word with Celia.
“Dad ended up pursuing his master’s in metallurgical engineering at Ohio State as part of a Battelle employee program” Gordon said of her inspirations to create scholarships for current students. She also followed in her father’s footsteps as a metallurgist.
“When I was coming to school, it was before Title IX,” she said. “There were only 12 women in the entire College of Engineering when I was a freshman. It grew to about 40 by the time I graduated.” She remembers Prof. Eldis Reed hosting early meetings of the Society of Women Engineers in his home, and the feeling of family that was fostered among faculty and students.
Carrie Gordon, BS ’74, metallurgical engineering, MS ’79 welding engineering, coordinated quality and cost optimization efforts at Ford Motor Company during her 28-year career in the automotive industry. Now retired, she spends much of her time volunteering in the community. Carrie received a Distinguished Alumni Award in 2015 from the College of Engineering.
She’s found a way to support current women engineering students. In 2006, the Carrie Maykuth Gordon Scholarship Fund was established by Gordon, colleagues, and family through The Ohio State Foundation. Distribution supports diversity with attention to females with merit and need who are studying materials science and engineering.
To learn more about how you can invest in Ohio State through your estate plan, please contact Kevin Readey, Associate Director of Development. readey.5@osu.edu 614-316-3382
