Melissa Brown Herkt, 1977 graduate in civil engineering, will be the commencement speaker for the fall 2015 graduation ceremony.
The graduation committee worked with administration and SGA to select a graduation speaker, according to Teresa Whitman-McCall, director of campus and community events for the Office of Communication and Marketing.
When choosing a speaker, Whitman-McCall said, the committee is looking for a specific qualification.
"Our No. 1 priority is to have an Auburn alumnus, one of our own to speak," Whitman-McCall said. "We feel like that is the best representation for graduates. They'll look at them and say, 'That person was sitting in this chair X number of years ago. That could be me standing up on that stage.'"
Herkt is a recent recipient of the Auburn Alumni Association's Lifetime Achievement Award, so she was a natural choice, Whitman-McCall said.
"Mrs. Herkt is a pioneer for women in engineering," Whitman-McCall said. "She's a phenomenal alum and a wonderful representative of everything great about Auburn."
Herkt paved the way for female engineers across the nation. She was Auburn's first female co-op engineering student, Exxon's first female construction manager and the first female engineer posted overseas.
As Exxon construction manager, she led a $300 million refinery expansion in France and a $400 million project in the UK and Denmark.
Herkt also served as president of Process Systems and Solutions – Americas, a division of Emerson Process Management.
She is actively involved with the University and engineering student outreach and has traveled with student teams to Bolivia twice.
Herkt received the Construction Industry Institute’s Outstanding Implementer Award in 2004, the Richard L. Tucker Leadership and Service Award in 2012 and the Auburn Alumni Association Lifetime Achievement Award in 2015. She was inducted into the Alabama Engineering Hall of Fame in 2008 and the National Academy of Construction in 2009.
"She's a very dynamic person and just wonderful for Auburn," Whitman-McCall said.
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