Suzanne Jenniches

F. Suzanne Jenniches (born 1949 ) is an American engineer who served from April 2, 2003, to 2010 as the vice president and general manager of Government Systems Division of Northrop Grumman Corp.'s Electronic Systems sector. She holds a patent for laser soldering. She was the only woman to take engineering evening classes at Johns Hopkins University in the 1970s. She was both the first female engineer and the first intern at Westinghouse Electric Company. She is one of the first female leaders at Northrop Grumman, and considered a pioneer by the Society of Women Engineers.

Early life The firstborn of one son and two daughters, Jenniches is the first in her family to have a college degree. Her parents both graduated from high school and owned their own business. Running a business required long, 12- to 14-hour work days. Jenniches learned the value of work ethic through her parents.

Jenniches's parents also taught her personal responsibility. They told her that if there was a problem at school, then she must have contributed to it- because your teachers -- why would they set out to do something that would hurt you? And so I learned early on to sort of take responsibility for myself and what happened to me, not to find other reasons outside of myself for not succeeding, but realizing that my success depended upon myself and the participation and contribution that I made. – Suzanne Jenniches

Career Jenniches began her career in science as a high school biology teacher, teaching ecology, in Westminster, Maryland. During this time, she received a magazine in the mail from the National Education Association. It was 1970, the first year of Earth Day. On the back cover, she found an ad from Johns Hopkins University. There was a post card to fill, tear out, and send in. Once again, she decided to change her career path on a whim. She applied to go to graduate school at Johns Hopkins by impulse. One of the items on the back cover flyer was the environmental engineering.

pioneer is somebody who breaks new ground and makes it easier for others to go ahead, then I’m proud to be called a pioneer."|source=Suzanne Jenniches, on being labeled a pioneer.