The landscape
Being the first is never easy, but this Hertz Fellow took on the challenge, and changed the military — for the better
Hertz Fellow and retired General Ellen Pawlikowski knew she wanted to be a leader, but that she’d need to create her own path to do so. She was a woman, entering college as a chemical engineering major in the late 1970s. And her targeted career path? The military.
But she still made it happen. The Hertz Fellow was the third woman to hold the rank of four-star general in Air Force history — all this despite warnings that if she got married and had children, she would not advance in her military career.
the path
Her fortitude and tenacity not only pushed her to military success and earning a PhD in chemical engineering, but helped develop her ability to lead. “To be an effective leader, I learned it was less important that I initially understood all the technical and scientific points and more important to build rapport with people so we could work together collaboratively,” she said.
By the time she retired she was commander of Air Force Material Command, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, she managed 80,000 employees and $60 billion annually. She retired in 2018 as a nationally recognized expert for her leadership in the U.S. science and technology community.
“To be an effective leader, I learned it was less important that I initially understood all the technical and scientific points and more important to build rapport with people so that we could work collaboratively,”
Ellen Pawlikowski
General, United States Air Force (retired)
the impact
Pawlikowski was a series of firsts: in 1978, she was the first woman to enroll in Air Force ROTC at the New Jersey Institute of Technology, at a time when scholarships were awarded only to pilots and limited to men. She also wore the first Air Force maternity uniform.
She also played a role in catalyzing talent through the Hertz Fellowship. From the mid-1990s to 2015, when she was promoted to four-star general, she interviewed eight to 10 candidates a year. “It makes me feel good about this country when I hear about awful issues and then am reminded that we’ve got some really, really smart people to address them.”
