Elizabeth McMichael
Rear Admiral, U.S. Navy, Retired
“You don’t know everything. You have to focus on listening to the perspectives you find and you’ve got to go after as broad of a perspective as you can in solving any problem.”
WORK EXPERIENCE
KC-46 RVS Chief Engineer Boeing Defense, Space & Security
NAVAIR Additive Manufacturing and Digital Thread Integrated Product Team Lead
Chief Engineer at P-3 and P-8 Program Office
Executive Panel of Civilian Three Stars
McMichael held a passion for STEM since early childhood, coming from a family of mechanics and engineers. She was aware of her status as a woman in a male dominated field and learned to advocate for herself to ensure not only her success, but the women to follow. McMichael’s passion for science helped her push through the bias against women in the engineering field of the 1980s. She praises the progress of the engineering field, currently working with the youngest and most diverse team of her career, giving her hope of greater inclusion in the future of STEM. McMichael emphasizes the nature of running a program and solving problems as a team effort and believes teams with diverse backgrounds enrich the pool of possibilities and improve outcomes.
