Pamela McCauley
Engineer, educator, author Innovating and inspiring others are the fuel that has driven Pamela McCauley, Ph.D., to become an award-winning engineer and educator. Although she’s one of the most prominent researchers in ergonomics and biomechanics, McCauley grew from humble beginnings. She moved to OKC as a teenager. After graduating from high school at sixteen, McCauley studied industrial engineering at the University of Oklahoma, and in 1993, she became the first African American woman in the state to graduate with a doctorate in the subject. She credits her father as one of the biggest influences in her decision to pursue her career. “My father passed last year,” McCauley says. “I get choked up just thinking about how proud he was of his baby, who got a doctorate degree from OU – the school he wanted to go to but was unable to because he was a Black man.” In forging a path of her own, McCauley acknowledges her challenges. In her memoir, she discusses discovering that she was pregnant at the age of 15. McCauley persevered with support from family and teachers. “So many other women could have the same experience, but we oftentimes don’t encourage them,” she says. This lesson of helping others is one that McCauley has embodied throughout her career. In 2012, she became a Fulbright Scholar and led disaster recovery efforts in New Zealand. Three years later, she became a Jefferson Science Fellow with the U.S. Department of State and traveled to third-world countries to research healthcare service delivery for the treatment of HIV/AIDS. McCauley is most proud of her work as program director of the National Science Foundation Innovation Corps. There, she helped diversify the program’s participants and challenge the status quo for granting promotion and tenure. For her impact, McCauley has earned several distinctions and awards, including the “Technologist of the Year” from the Women of Color in Technology’s Conference. In 2022, McCauley was inducted into the Oklahoma Hall of Fame. “I’ve been blessed with a lot of recognition, and I’m so humbled by it,” she says. “But there’s nothing like being loved and appreciated at home.” Currently, McCauley serves as the Associate Dean of Academic Programs at the Wilson College of Textiles at North Carolina State University. Looking ahead, McCauley says that she hopes to continue to impact the STEM community. “I’m still very excited about work,” she says. “I’ve been so fortunate to have an amazing career with challenges and ups Pamela McCauley works diligently to impact and downs, and I’ve loved every the STEM community minute of it.”- FH worldwide. Photo courtesy Women of Color Magazine
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OKLAHOMA MAGAZINE | JANUARY 2023
David Nimmo
President/CEO – Chickasaw Nation Industries Growth is necessary for the Chickasaw Nation to continue to thrive, says David Nimmo, president and CEO of Chickasaw Nation Industries. Nimmo, who has provided leadership to the Nation in various capacities for more than two decades, says CNI has recorded significant development in the last year, despite pandemic challenges. “Our mission as a business is to build a company that can support a nation, so growth is important for us to reach that point where our distributable income can provide resources to enhance quality of life for every tribal member,” says Nimmo. “Last year … we saw 36% growth on the top line and 28% growth on the bottom line. Although it seems COVID was somewhat behind us, it is not behind us in terms of the federal government – which is our primary customer. For us to continue to have growth is a significant accomplishment.” The pandemic changed the way people do business, and CNI molded with the times through ingenuity and flexibility. “I can’t take credit; I’m proud of our team in developing new approaches,” he says. “They’re doing a fantastic job.” CNI continues to look toward the future. “The organic growth of acquisition is one of the things we’ll be looking at, because our business is principally government contracts, and that’s a cycle of three to five years,” he says. “In other words, 20-30% of our business falls off annually and we have to keep replacing that in order to grow bigger. In order to be big enough to support a nation, we continue to grow.” That mission of moving the Nation forward drives Nimmo. “We’re not creating wealth to buy a new Maserati,” he says. “We’re creating resources for healthcare and housing and eyeglasses and education.” A born-and-raised Oklahoman, Nimmo says traveling around the country for his job has made him love the state even more. “The quality of the people of Oklahoma is our hidden asset. Companies we acquire have an immediate affinity for us because they see the good neighbor and genuine attitude and are drawn to it,” he says. “This state, as a whole, has that down-to-Earth spirit, and it’s just really pleasant to live and work here. What we have is special and doesn’t exist everywhere. It’s hard to see, you just have Chickasaw Nation Industries CEO David Nimmo to live in it to says he’s focused on know. ” -TL one thing moving into 2023: growth for the company and the Nation as a whole. Photo by Shevaun Williams