Meet Ursula Burns: From Poverty to CEO
Posted on May 23rd, 2012 by Mary Lord
When Ursula Burns joined Xerox as an intern in 1980, she never imagined she would one day run the company famous for inventing photocopy machines—let alone become the first African American female to head a Fortune 500 firm. Why would she? Just walking through the door, fresh from earning a master’s degree in mechanical engineering from Columbia University, represented a huge career leap…
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Tags: African American, business, Careers, CEO, Mechanical Engineering, Trailblazers, Ursula Burns, Women in engineering, Xerox
Coming into Virginia Tech’s engineering program, Angela Walker knew that as a woman, she would be in the minority. That’s why she chose to live in Hypatia, an all-female engineering community, her first two years. “Nothing can replace the ability to walk down the hallway and get help on homework,” says Walker, now a junior majoring in mechanical engineering. “If it weren’t for the network of people you meet through this program, many girls might feel intimidated to the point that they decide to drop out of engineering,” she says. “We empower each other.”
