Episode 65: Masako "Mae" Nakatani Nishioka
The time was 1929. The place, Hilo, Hawaii Masako “Mae” Nakatani was born. Her mom, Hanako was the first woman of Japanese descent to graduate from the Queen’s Medical Nursing Program. Mae’s dad, Richard, and her uncle Minoru, were civil engineers at Jas W Glover General Contractors and they would take Mae to work with them because she showed an interest in from an early age in math. During high school, Mae interned at the company and went to job sites. She pursued a degree in engineering and in 1950 she made history when she became the first woman to graduate with an engineering degree from the University of Hawaii. A year after graduation, she married Rikio Nishioka, a civil engineer. Civil engineer power couple alert, cute! At the time of their marriage, she was working with the Territory of Hawaii Highway Planning Department and he was in the design department. While she was working there she was involved in the early planning stages of the H-1 Freeway, the state’s first major freeway!
Mae made history again when she became the first woman in Hawaii to be a licensed Professional Engineer, in 1954. Throughout her career, she worked for the Hawaii Irrigation Authority, the Public Works Department, and the Department of Transportation and as the Director of the Facilities Planning Office at her Alma Mater. There, she was responsible for coordinating the planning, budgeting, construction, repair, and maintenance of university’s buildings and campus. She oversaw construction programs to develop Hawaii’s university system, with campuses at UH-Manoa, Hilo, West Oahu, and some community colleges. Mae did so much, but her real passion was mentoring, educating, and inspiring female engineering students and professionals. To that end, she joined the Society of Women Engineers (SWE) and she remained active for 60 years. She even helped create the SWE Hawaiian Islands Section. She received the 2017 Lifetime Achievement Award from the Hawaii Council of Engineering Societies for her contributions to the engineering field and for blazing a trail for women to follow. Unfortunately, two days before the ceremony was held Mae passed away on February 23, 2017, in Honolulu. She was 88 years old.
Caryatid: Pearl Yamaguchi
Pearl Yamaguchi is an alumnus of the University of Hawaii at Manoa just like Mae! Pearl graduated with a BS in electrical engineering. She's had a varied career working as a project engineer, nuclear engineer, and research specialist. Throughout her career, Pearl was mentored by Mae and now she is the mentorship forward, she is a member of the SWE and a champion of the Mae Nakatani Nishioka Scholarship Fund. Pearl also encourages others to begin scholarships and mentors on how to become better at fundraising.
Agora: Osman Herrera!
Osman Herrera has become a mentor in the ACE Mentor Program, a free, award-winning, afterschool program designed to attract high school students into pursuing careers in the Architecture, Construction, and Engineering industries, including skilled trades. To learn more about this fantastic program visit: https://www.acementor.org/
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References
Cataluna, Lee. “Group Honors Memory of Hawaii’s First Female Engineer.” Honolulu Star-Advertiser, 13 July 2018, www.staradvertiser.com/2018/07/13/hawaii-news/lee-cataluna/honoring-the-legacy-of-mae-nishioka/?HSA=53b36be76a5dc893758f9a0f79a1f5d9eb64a8f0.
“Clipping From the Honolulu Advertiser.” Newspapers.com, www.newspapers.com/clip/15537748/the-honolulu-advertiser.
“---.” Newspapers.com, www.newspapers.com/clip/24467968/the-honolulu-advertiser.
Guy, Sandra Swe Contributor. “Women Engineers You Should Know.” All Together, 7 May 2021, alltogether.swe.org/2019/06/women-engineers-you-should-know-2.
Koerner, Emily Rees. “Who Went to the International Conference of Women Engineers and Scientists (ICWES) in 1964 and 1967?” Electrifying Women, 9 Dec. 2020, electrifyingwomen.org/who-went-to-the-international-conference-of-women-engineers-and-scientists-icwes-in-1964-and-1967.
Mae Masako Nakatani Nishioka Obituary | Honolulu Star-Advertiser. 12 Mar. 2017, obits.staradvertiser.com/2017/03/12/mae-masako-nakatani-nishioka.
“Mae Nakatani in the 1940 Census | Ancestry®.” Ancestry.com, www.ancestry.com/1940-census/usa/Hawaii/Mae-Nakatani_2r8qmn.
