Like many students, Frances Hurwitz had no idea what she wanted to do when she came to Harpur College. However, her path eventually led her to become a senior materials research engineer at NASA.
Hurwitz, who graduated in 1966, spoke on Friday at the Fleishman Center for Career and Professional Development as part of the Cool Connections, Hot Alumni speaker series. She advised a crowd of over 30 to keep their career options open, and take advantage of all opportunities offered at Binghamton University.
“My career wasn’t planned,” Hurwitz said. “It’s not that I came in as a freshman and knew what I wanted to do.”
When Hurwtiz was first hired by NASA in 1979, she was one of only seven women with a doctorate employed at the agency. Hurwitz still works at NASA 36 years later and is responsible for numerous projects, including research on high-temperature thermal protection systems, which involves designing materials that can resist temperatures higher than 700 degrees Celsius during space travel.
Hurwitz graduated with a B.A. in chemistry from Harpur College and obtained a master’s degree in library science before going on to obtain both a master’s and a doctoral degree in macromolecular science from Case Western Reserve University in 1979.
“I had seen an ad from Case Western in chemical engineering for graduate students, and I mentioned it to my husband at dinner and he said ‘I dare you,’” Hurwitz said. “It was the last time he ever said, ‘I dare you.’”
She has won numerous awards during her time at NASA, including the NASA Exceptional Achievement Medal for outstanding scientific and leadership contributions. She has been an advocate for women in engineering and in 2014 was awarded the highest honor of the Society of Women Engineers for her groundbreaking research and advocacy efforts.
“What really struck me about her was that her experience was more going with the flow,” said Francis Borrego, senior assistant director at the Fleishman Center and an organizer of the event. “She was all about taking advantages of opportunities.”
Hurwitz answered engineering-related career questions afterward and said she wanted to encourage students to stay open-minded and flexible with their opportunities.
“People don’t necessarily know where they’re gonna end up,” Hurwitz said. “When I was here, if you told me that I was going to be working for NASA with high temperature materials I probably would have laughed.”
Laura Capobianco, a sophomore majoring in industrial and systems engineering, said she found Hurwitz’s path to success in the sciences encouraging.
“I think that’s reassuring,” Capobianco said. “She didn’t really know what she wanted to do and she just kind of took opportunities.”
Katie Leenig, vice president of the Society of Women Engineers and a senior majoring in industrial and systems engineering, said she found it inspiring to meet a successful woman in a senior engineering role who graduated from BU.
“I was very interested in learning about her research and kind of just get her background to see how an experienced alumni has made it in the industry all the way up to NASA,” Leenig said.
According to Matthew Carrigan, a senior majoring in English, Hurwitz’s determination on her journey to attain such a notable position was inspiring for any student.
“Her ability to overcome the odds against her as a woman is an empowering story,” Carrigan said. “[It] really shows the value of patience and perseverance.”