Marjorie Parsons
UTC graduate Marjorie Parsons has been named as the Tennessee Valley Authority’s Ike Zeringue Engineer of the Year, the organization’s highest honor for an engineer.
Parsons, who graduated from UTC in 1998 with a degree in electrical engineering, is also one of the finalists for the Federal Engineer of the Year Award, which will be presented Feb. 22 in Washington, D.C.
“I’m very honored to be chosen as TVA’s Engineer of the Year. I am even more excited about being the first woman to receive this award and, with engineering becoming more diverse, I’m confident that there will be many more women to follow,” Parsons said.
“Since I’m a local girl, I chose Chattanooga State for my associate’s degree and UTC for my bachelors’ degree to allow me to work full-time and be near family while I obtained my degrees. Chattanoogans are very fortunate to have great technical and engineering schools in our back yard.”
With 31 years of TVA service, Parsons is a senior program manager who has helped develop standards for the reliability of the agency’s power grid, which covers 10 million people in seven Southeastern states.
Her work has helped TVA deliver 99.999 percent power reliability for 19 consecutive years, making the Tennessee Valley one of the few regions in the nation without a major blackout, agency officials said.
“Marjorie has distinguished herself as a leader who tirelessly helps keep electricity flowing to our homes and businesses,” said Bob Dalrymple, TVA senior vice president, Transmission and Power Supply.
The O.J. “Ike” Zeringue Award is named after the former TVA president, chief operating officer and chief nuclear officer.
