Nancy Fitzroy to Receive ASME Honorary Membership
NEW YORK, Oct. 1, 2008 – Nancy DeLoye Fitzroy, P.E., a resident of Niskayuna, N.Y., will be honored by ASME. She is being recognized for tireless efforts and lasting influence as an advocate of the mechanical engineering profession, particularly career-long mentoring of women and other underrepresented groups, dedicated service to the ASME Foundation, and technical excellence in the fields of fluid flow and heat transfer. Fitzroy will be awarded Honorary Membership in ASME.
First awarded in 1880, the founding year of the Society, Honorary Membership recognizes a lifetime of service to engineering or related fields. The award will be conferred during the 2008 International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition, which is being held in Boston, Oct. 31 through Nov. 6.
Fitzroy began her 37-year career with the General Electric Company (Schenectady, N.Y.) in 1950. She was among the first engineers to work on the heat transfer of nuclear reactor cores. Later she worked in corporate research and development, and consulted on technical problems in the fields of heat transfer, gas turbines, nuclear energy and space vehicles. Dr. Fitzroy also worked on the first of the satellites placed into orbit for GE. Prior to her retirement in 1987 she was manager, energy and environmental programs, turbine marketing and projects operation in the Gas Turbine Division. She has written more than 100 technical papers and articles and holds three patents.
A Fellow of ASME, Fitzroy has been actively involved in the Society for many years. She was named the 105th president of ASME (1986-87), and helped form the ASME Industry Advisory Board in 1987. Following her presidency, Fitzroy has served on the ASME Foundation Board, as director (1989-95, 1997-2003) and trustee (1988-present). Her work on the Committee of Past Presidents has included support of the Leadership Development Initiative begun in 1990.
Earlier ASME activities included serving on the Board of Governors (1983-85), as senior vice president and chair of the Council on Public Affairs (1981-83), and as vice president, Policy Board, Professional and Public Affairs (1981-82). She was a member of the ASME Policy Board on Education (1974-77) and ASME National Nominating Committee (1977-78); chair and active member of the Hudson-Mohawk Section, and active member of Region III–Mid-Atlantic, now District A (1961-68); and an active member of the Heat Transfer Division (1956-74). In 1980 she was honored with an ASME Centennial Medallion.
As the first woman president of a major professional engineering society Fitzroy has been an excellent role model for women in engineering. A licensed commercial airplane and helicopter pilot, she has been a member of the Whirly-Girls, an international group of helicopter pilots dedicated to advancing women in aviation. Highly visible and active in diversity issues in the workforce, she has been a pioneering supporter of women engineering students and young professionals and other underrepresented groups throughout her career.
Among her numerous honors and recognitions, Fitzroy was elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 1995 and was chosen as an Honorary Fellow (1988) of Britain’s Institution of Mechanical Engineers.
Fitzroy received her bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (Troy, N.Y.) in 1949. She was awarded a doctor of science (honoris causis) from the New Jersey Institute of Technology, Newark (1987) and a degree of doctor of engineering (honoris causis) by her alma mater (1990). She is a registered professional engineer in New York.
Founded in 1880 as the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, ASME is a not-for-profit professional organization promoting the art, science and practice of mechanical and multidisciplinary engineering and allied sciences. ASME develops codes and standards that enhance public safety, and provides lifelong learning and technical exchange opportunities benefiting the global engineering and technology community.
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