Anita Hand: a lifetime of beginnings
Chris Pepple |
As Anita Hand (’56) studied at Lipscomb for her degree in mathematics, she caught glimpses of a changing world, but could never have imagined the changes she would encounter firsthand during her fifty-year career with Teledyne Brown Engineering, headquartered in Huntsville, Ala. When she entered the workplace, very few women worked in the scientific engineering world. She began working with Brown Engineering on October 7, 1957, just three days after the Soviet Union launched Sputnik-1, the first artificial satellite. The space age had dawned.
For the position in which she was hired, Hand performed calculations for trajectory analysis, determining the path of projectiles, a task which is now performed entirely by computers. She also supervised nine employees in her area in a time when few women held supervisory positions. With the space race gaining momentum, her company’s role in the aerospace industry grew quickly, eventually becoming Teledyne Brown Engineering in 1967.
“When I came to Huntsville, the space age was just beginning. Sputnik had just been launched. Shortly after that, we launched a space vehicle. I was able to watch all of the development step by step. It was an exciting time to be working in this field. I saw my employer grow from a 150-person machine shop and engineering house to the operation that it is today with many national and international offices,” said Hand. She witnessed the world changing before her eyes as Explorer 1 was launched, as NASA was created, as computers evolved. “When Explorer was launched in 1958, everybody gathered at the courthouse square in Huntsville and celebrated. It was a wonderful accomplishment for our nation. “
In the year when Lego toys were introduced and hula hoops were popular, Hand knew that bigger cultural changes were ahead. The success of Explorer 1 opened the door to further space travel, and NASA, even in its infancy, set the pace for exploration and brought outer space into the lives of average citizens. When Wernher von Braun and his team moved to the Redstone Arsenal near Huntsville, Hand rubbed elbows with the scientists who had developed the V-2 ballistic missile for the Nazis during World War II, but were now using their expertise to build the giant Saturn rockets. Von Braun went on to become the architect for the Saturn V launch vehicle that eventually propelled Americans to the moon.
American and international culture has changed dramatically just during the course of Hand’s career with Teledyne Brown Engineering. Since she first accepted her first assignment with them: the peace symbol was designed; The Sound of Music opened on Broadway; the first televised presidential debates were held; lasers were invented, the Berlin wall was built (and destroyed); the Peace Corps was founded; Marilyn Monroe and Elvis died; John F. Kennedy, Robert Kennedy, Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X and John Lennon were assassinated; Hasbro made the first G. I. Joe action figure; U. S. troops were sent to Vietnam (and then brought home); M.A.S.H. and Star Trek television show were launched (and their series finale aired); the first Super Bowl was played; Sesame Street was created; a concert at Woodstock took place; VCRs, floppy disks, pocket calculators, personal computers and the Sony Walkman were first introduced to the public; the Beatles broke up; Nixon resigned; Microsoft was founded; Star Wars was released; CNN was established; AIDS was first identified; the PG-13 movie rating was created; the Internet grew; the Hubble Telescope was launched; Operation Desert Storm took place; the World Trade Center was bombed; and Hong Kong was returned to China.
Hand receives her 50-year service award gift. (Photo courtesy of Teledyne Brown Engineering .)
Hand still has no plans to retire. “I’ve always been an active person. I’d like to keep working as long as I am able to. I feel so fortunate. I have experienced so many firsts. When it is happening, you don’t think about it,” said Hand.
Though her career has been important to her, she has always made time for work in her community. She was a charter member of the Business and Professional Women’s Club and, as such, was instrumental in the formation of the Broadway Theatre League in 1959. She was named Business Woman of the Year in 1960. She has served as a role model for many women entering the professional world.
“When I first began my career, I don’t think I was aware of how few women were in the work world. It was definitely a man’s world, but I always felt as if I was treated equally. When I think about the changes for women, I laugh as I think about our working wardrobe. Women didn’t own slacks when I started work. Business apparel has been a big social change during my career.”
While juggling her career and community service, Hand has also cherished time with her family. “The most rewarding days of my life revolved around raising my three daughters and now spending time with my grandchildren. I am very proud of my daughters and grandchildren. All three of my daughters earned advanced degrees and hold professional positions.” Wilhelmina Dietzen Cowie (’81) is a licensed counselor and a nurse. Katherine Dietzen owns a pharmaceutical communications firm in New York City. Louise Dietzen is an attorney in Atlanta. Hand has seven grandchildren. Her grandson, Jeffrey Cowie, is a Lipscomb senior.
Gina Hannah, business writer for The Huntsville Times, wrote of Hand: “Anita Hand has indeed juggled both a successful career and successful parenthood. She recently celebrated 50 years at her employer working in technical and management positions. And to think: She accomplished this not in our days of equality and political correctness, but in the 1950s - the Cleaver family era of nuclear families and stay-at-home moms … Anita told me that much has changed in the workplace since she began her career, but one thing hasn't: Mother's Guilt. She sees it in the moms she works with today. When I asked her how she managed - several of her child-rearing years were spent as a single mother - she credited her employer, for paying her a good salary so she could hire a babysitter, and the realization that all you can do in any area of your life is your best. And, chances are, best isn't going to be perfect. “
Hand receives congratulations from Company President Milton Cummings as she celebrates five years of service, February, 1963. (Photo courtesy of Teledyne Brown Engineering .)
Today, Anita is a member of the Fire Control and Communications team on the Ground-based Midcourse contract with Boeing. She is the first employee with Teledyne Brown Engineering to complete 50 years of service. When asked what advice she would pass along to graduates entering their careers, she answered, “I would tell them to: 1) put God first in your life and trust in Him every day and in every circumstance; 2) keep your family (especially your children) next to God in priority and importance – put forth your best effort every day in your family relationships; 3) work hard, work hard, work hard on your job every day – do all you possibly can for your employer. This advice is one thing that has not changed during my 50 years of employment – this is the same advice that was given to me by my parents and by my Lipscomb advisors and I feel that it has served me well. “