Biography:Marilyn Jorgenson Reece

Marilyn Jorgenson Reece was an American civil engineer, and the first woman to be licensed as a civil engineer by the state of California . Born on September 8, 1926 in Kenmare, North Dakota, she received a degree in civil engineering from the University of Minnesota in 1948. Following graduation, she moved to California, and began working for the State Division of Highways. In 1954 she became the first woman to be a registered civil engineer in the state of California. Among the many many projects that she supervised, her most celebrated work is the iconic interchange between the 10 and the 405 freeways in Los Angeles, California. This interchange was designed to accommodate traffic moving at high speeds, and represented the forefront of traffic engineering in its day. For this work she was awarded the Governor's Design Excellence Award from Pat Brown, and in 2008, this interchange was named in her honor. She was married to Alvin Reece who also worked as a civil engineer for Caltrans. She died on May 15, 2004 in Hacienda Heights, California, and is survived by her husband and two daughters.