to encourage female engineers to attain high levels of achievement. In 1989, the American Society of Mechanical Engineers formed the Board on Minorities and Women, in response to the increasing importance of diversity. The mission of the Board is "to make the American Society of Mechanical Engineers a welcome place for all to participate and assume leadership roles in ASME activities and to encourage minorities and women to seek and retain careers in engineering." The Board focuses on targeting women and minorities with leadership programs, diversity action grants, conferences, presentations, and training. Notable American women engineers (in alphabetical order) Julia Tutelman Apter (-1979) – One of the first specialists in neurophysiological research, a founding member of the Biomedical Engineering Society, and an activist who worked to get more women in leadership positions. Nora Stanton Blatch Barney (1883–1971) – The first woman to receive a degree in civil engineering from Cornell University, in 1905, when she was also accepted as a junior member of the American Society of Civil Engineers. However, she was later refused the Society's Associate Membership. Mary Barra – Barra is the first female CEO of a major global automaker. On December 10, 2013, GM named her to succeed Dan Akerson as chief executive officer, and prior to that, Barra served as the Executive Vice President of Global Product Development, Purchasing and Supply Chain at General Motors. Gail Boydston – Chemical Engineer at the Eli Lilly and Company, holding key hiring and training. Held instrumental role in developing new types of insulin and other chemicals. Edith Clarke (1883-1959) First woman professional electrical engineer (EE), first woman graduate degree in EE from MIT, first woman professor of EE, first woman IEEE fellow. Olive Dennis (1885–1957), was the second woman to graduate from Cornell with a civil engineering degree, in 1920. She was initially hired by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad as a draftsman but later became the first person to have the title of Service Engineer when it was created. Denice Denton (1959–2006) – Electrical Engineering Professor and Dean of University of Washington. First woman in the United States to lead an engineering college of a major university. Mildred Dresselhaus (1930–2017) – Professor of Physics and Engineering at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Awarded the National Medal of Science in 1990 in recognition of work on electronic properties of materials. Bonnie Dunbar (1949–) – NASA astronaut and Bachelor of