 If
you were an AACE International member in the 1980’s and 1990’s, you
would likely have crossed paths with Dorothy (Dottie) Burton.
Dottie has been a supporter and active member of AACE International
since almost the first day she became a member in 1982. In 2000, she
was awarded Honorary Life Membership, and in 2003 she was further
honored by being named a Fellow in AACE International.
My personal experience with Dottie began in about 1996. She was the
newly elected Vice President Technical, and we met at a technical
committee meeting. After some conversation, she convinced me to run
for office in AACE International … the rest is history. But whenever
I met Dottie, typically at an Annual Meeting, she was always
interested in what I was doing and wondering
when I would run for an AACE International office. Even after being
in office, there was encouragement and a genuine interest.
She has been a Regional representative and held several offices in
the St Louis Section. At the Association level, she has been a
Technical Director, served as the inter-organization chair, System
Integration Founder and Chair. As if all that was not enough, Dottie
was the Co-Chair for the 1995 St. Louis Annual Meeting. To top off
her long association with AACE International, she served as Vice
President Technical in 1997 - 1998.
Dottie Burton has had a long and varied career in the aeronautics
and space industry. Her experience has encompassed engineering,
project management system development, and cost control systems. She
has a B.S. degree with graduate work in applied mechanics from
Washington University. She received her MBA from Southern Illinois
at Edwardsville.
Dottie started her career with the McDonnell Douglas Company. She
spent a great deal of her career working on advanced engineering
design for fighter airplanes and short takeoff and landing aircraft.
In addition to aircraft design, she spent a portion of her career
working on the manned orbital laboratory and planetary landers,
including the Mars Capsule. After a number of years, she found
herself in management control systems, heading up new product
development. In this role she held responsibility for designing and
implementing a totally integrated project management system. The
cost systems she developed were used by divisions within the
company, as well as outside commercial clients.
After her work in aircraft design, Dottie returned to astronautics,
where she implemented the systems incorporating expert system
technology. In this new role, she solved several fiscal management
problems with an emphasis in project cost estimating from proposal
to change order.
In the 1970s, Dottie started doing a lot of work-related traveling.
In those days, airline tickets and hotel reservations were issued to
“Mr. D. J. Burton.” No matter how much she complained about the
reservations, they were ignored. The turning point occurred when, on
a trip to Fairbanks, Alaska, she was checking in for a flight on a
stormy mid-December evening. She was told that flying under someone
else’s name was illegal. After all, what if the plane had an
accident?
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Even though domestic travel had its problems, Dottie says that
traveling in Europe had its advantages. She had many clients in
Scandinavian and European countries and, when she traveled there,
these clients provided her with extra sightseeing excursions.
Dottie can remember many humorous instances as she was making her
way in the engineering field. The one she likes to tell is when she
was teaching Sunday school and was also a student, taking a class in
“orbital mechanics.” She asked to be excused from teaching on a
particular Sunday so she could put some time into study. When Dottie
asked for the time off, the Sunday school leader commented that she
had always wanted to learn to use a screwdriver. How things have
changed!
She remembers those experiences with fondness, but at the same time
recognizes they are a far cry from today when women are found in
corporate offices and roles of leadership throughout industry.
Dottie explains that, even at her alma mater (Washington
University), the Dean of Engineering and Applied Science, is a
woman. Women are much more recognized in academic and corporate
management fields than ever before.
Dottie’s Comments on AACE International:
AACE International provides specialized education, encourages
research, and provides leadership opportunities, interaction and
knowledge from association with leaders in the field cost
engineering and project controls. According to Dottie, “These
attributes contributed to my confidence level in dealing with my
peers. The guiding principle on which I have based my career is to
obtain the best and latest information and techniques available for
the job.”
Advice to Women Entering the Field of Engineering:
“My advice to women who are entering the cost engineering profession
is to accumulate as much education as possible, obtain professional
registration or certification, and participate in a professional
organization, that is, AACE International. [Between members of AACE
International], the expertise and willingness to share information
is priceless. The organization presents a work-related challenge to
succeed in industry.”
Dottie has now retired and is enjoying the fruits of her working
years and service to AACE International. She remains active in her
church and local activities and enjoys the life of a grandparent
with her five grandchildren. Even though retired, she still finds
time to contribute her experience and knowledge to the St. Louis
Section.
Article by Clive Francis, CCC
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