Biography:Janie L. Mines
Janie L. Mines | |
|---|---|
 Midshipman Janie L. Mines in 1980 | |
| Born | 1958 Aiken, South Carolina |
| Nationality | American |
| Occupation |
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| Known for | First African-American woman to graduate from the U.S. Naval Academy (1980) |
Janie L. Mines (born 1958) is an American former naval officer who was the first African-American woman to graduate from the U.S. Naval Academy, where she earned a Bachelor of Science in General Engineering in 1980.[1][2][3] After serving in a variety of roles in the U.S. Navy, she held management positions in a variety of corporations and became a management consultant. In 2002, she was an Olympic Torchbearer.[1]
Early life
Mines was born in 1958 in Aiken, South Carolina.[1] Her mother is Daisy Sheppard Mines, her father is Reverend William L. Mines, a Baptist minister, and she has a younger sister, Gwen.[1] She graduated from Aiken High School in 1976,[4] where she had been a member of the Navy Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps JROTC unit,[2] a National Honor Society Student, and was her graduating Class Salutatorian.[1]
In August 1975, the U.S. Congress authorized the admittance of women to its military service academies.[5] Mines was the first and only African-American woman of the 81 women who entered the U.S. Naval Academy (USNA) in 1976.[2] While at the Academy, Mines was a member of the fencing team, squad leader, midshipman drill officer, and regimental adjutant.[1][2] She is reported to have found the experience hard and disillusioning, but valuable in learning how to deal with, and make progress in, the system.[2]
In 1980, Mines became the first African-American woman to graduate from the USNA, and her sister graduated from USNA the following year.[2] Mines graduated with the rank of Ensign, and a B.S. in general engineering.[2][3]
A knee injury in 1978 had ended Mines' plans for a career in the Marines.[2] After graduation, she trained as a supply officer and was assigned to a supervisor position at the Naval Training Center Orlando.[2] She then served in the naval annex at The Pentagon, and aboard the USS Emory S. Land.[6] Mines also served as a senior advisor on the staff of the Secretary of the Navy.[1]
Mines left the Navy to earn a Masters of Business Administration from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), with a 1998 thesis entitled "Integrated change management".[3] She held positions in management in several corporations, including Procter & Gamble and Hershey Foods, and was Senior Vice President of Strategic Sourcing at Bank of America.[1] She has been a management consultant[1] and is a member of the Defense Advisory Committee on Women in the Services (DACOWITS).[7]
Honors
In 2002, Mines was a torchbearer in the Olympic Torch Relay, and has received local civic awards.[1] She was honored by the Navy with a Business Achievement Award in 2010.[8] She was also subject of a USNA video, Courage.[9]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 1.9 Cabiao, Howard. "Mines, Janie L. (1958- )". BlackPast.org. http://www.blackpast.org/aah/mines-janie-l-1958. Retrieved 30 March 2017.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8 United States Office of Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Equal Opportunity and Safety Policy (1985). Black Americans in defense of our nation. US Department of Defense. p. 159. https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=umn.31951d006579432;view=1up;seq=161. Retrieved 30 March 2017.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Mines, Janie L. (June 1988). Integrated change management. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. https://dspace.mit.edu/bitstream/handle/1721.1/60755/40827484-MIT.pdf?sequence=2. Retrieved 30 March 2017.
- ↑ "Military Briefs" (in en). Aiken Standard: p. 6. 25 Oct 1977. https://www.newspapers.com/image/51991626/. Retrieved 30 March 2017.
- ↑ "A brief history of USNA". United States Naval Academy. https://www.usna.edu/USNAHistory/History.php. Retrieved 30 March 2017.
- ↑ Gates, Henry Louis (2011) (in en). Life Upon These Shores: Looking at African American History, 1513-2008. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. p. 395. ISBN 9780307593429. https://books.google.com/books?id=dmJfdgw639MC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Gates,+Henry+Louis+(2011).+Life+upon+these+shores+:+looking+at+African+American+history,&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi1jZqv_fzSAhUD5oMKHYIhCwEQ6AEIIjAB#v=onepage&q=janie&f=false. Retrieved 30 March 2017.
- ↑ "DACOWITS Committee Members". U.S. Department of Defense. http://dacowits.defense.gov/About/Committee/. Retrieved 30 March 2017.
- ↑ Stegherr, Lt Laura K (November 2, 2010). "Women of Color Awards Showcase Navy's Commitment to STEM, Diversity". America's Navy (U.S. Navy). http://www.navy.mil/submit/display.asp?story_id=56948. Retrieved 30 March 2017.
- ↑ U.S. Naval Academy (July 2010) (in English). Courage. Multimedia Support Center, U.S. Naval Academy. http://www.worldcat.org/title/courage/oclc/706817657&referer=brief_results. Retrieved 30 March 2017.
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