Diane Gulyas joined DuPont 30 years ago — starting “at the bottom,” as she puts it — with a newly minted B.S. degree in chemical engineering from the University of Notre Dame. Today, many different duties and promotions later, she’s a group vice president heading one of DuPont’s largest divisions: Performance Materials.

Being a top manager is about analyzing problems and then mobilizing people to solve them, which is why her degree has served her well as she has risen through the ranks. “Engineering is one of the best ways to learn advanced problem-solving skills, both individually and in teams,” she says.

Gulyas realizes that she’s a role model for younger women. “Mentoring is a real passion of mine,” she says. “I learned a lot from the women ahead of me, and I now try to help those who come after me.” Accordingly, Gulyas mentors 12 women at DuPont, offering them coaching and counseling on a one-to-one basis.

Because she travels often, she regularly meets with women at DuPont operations worldwide, from Russia to Taiwan. Gulyas also has advised a young female business owner in India as part of a U.S. State Department mentoring program.

Gulyas and her husband, Ed, have been married 27 years. She admits that juggling a high-profile career with family life can be tough at times and that it helps to have a network of supporters, including family, friends, and colleagues: “It is a team effort.” Of course, knowing the value of teamwork is something else that Gulyas learned from
engineering.

Photo by Jim Graham

Filed under: Explore Engineering, Materials

Tags: Materials