Biography:Margarita Colmenares
Margarita Hortensia Colmenares (born July 20, 1957) is an American environmental engineer and activist for the Hispanic-American community.[1][2]
Early life and education
Colmenares grew up in Sacramento, California, the oldest of five children born to Luis and Hortensia Colmenares, Mexican immigrants who worked as laborers. She attended private Catholic schools in her childhood, and began her tertiary education at California State University at Sacramento with the intent to earn a degree in business. However, she became interested in engineering and ultimately earned her bachelor's degree in civil engineering from Stanford University in 1981. She also performed traditional Mexican dance at university.[2][3][4] She was co-director of the Ballet Folklórico de Stanford University.[5]
Career
While in school, Colmenares worked for Xerox, Chevron, and the California Department of Water Resources. Upon graduation from Stanford, Colmenares continued a career with Chevron, starting as a field construction engineer and later working in Colorado and Texas before returning to California to head a major environmental cleanup at the Chevron El Segundo plant.[5] She earned a White House fellowship in 1991, the first Hispanic engineer to be selected. She spent her term at the White House working in the Department of Education, where she returned in 1996 as its director of corporate liaison. Through her leadership roles, she has advocated for Hispanic-American and women engineers. She founded the San Francisco chapter of the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers.[2][3][4]
Honors and awards
- White House fellowship (1991)[5]
- President, Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (1989)[5]
- Community Service Award, Hispanic Engineer (1989)[5]
- National Hispana Leadership Initiative (1989)[5]
- Outstanding Hispanic Woman of the Year, Hispanic magazine (1989)[5]
- 100 Most Influential Hispanics, Hispanic Business (1990, 1992)
- Outstanding Alumni Award, California Community College League
References
- ↑ "Margarita Colmenares - Engineer, clean energy advocate - Sacramento City College". California Community Colleges. http://californiacommunitycolleges.cccco.edu/Newsroom/NotableAlumni/MargaritaColmenares.aspx.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Oakes, Elizabeth H. (2007-01-01) (in en). Encyclopedia of World Scientists. Infobase Publishing. ISBN 9781438118826. https://books.google.com/books?id=uPRB-OED1bcC.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Wayne, Tiffany K. (2011-01-01) (in en). American Women of Science Since 1900. ABC-CLIO. ISBN 9781598841589. https://books.google.com/books/about/American_Women_of_Science_Since_1900.html?id=gPGZJ_YuMwgC.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Meier, Matt S.; Gutiérrez, Margo (2003-01-01) (in en). The Mexican American Experience: An Encyclopedia. Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 9780313316432. https://books.google.com/books?id=-E1_hLqmUCIC.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 5.6 Meier, Matt (1997). Notable Latino Americans. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press. pp. 97–99. ISBN 0313291055.
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