emails for this Saltus magazine feature--in a brief
few weeks, her replies log thousands of miles zipping
back from Brazil, Bangkok and New Mexico as she
meets with staff and clients as vice-president of
marketing for ExxonMobil Chemical Company.
support all of them," says Mattix, 55, who lives in
Houston, TX. "There are about 750 folk in my
group, in the Americas, Europe and Asia, and
beyond the critical marketing and sales experts, we
are responsible for customer websites, customer
service organisations, plus IT enablement and
business process standards for all our transactions."
current two-year SGY programme--Mattix went
on to get a Bachelor of Science in Chemical
Engineering from the university of Virginia in
1979, and an MBA from Washington university in
St. Louis in '83. She has more than three decades
of experience in the chemical industry.
remembers. "There were only a couple of students
in Chemistry and Calculus AP at the time and the
syllabus was new to everyone. Since I was part of
the first Senior Year class, I have many memories
associated with start-up. Most of my classes were at
Saltus, not BHS, as the more technical courses were
offered there. For the most part, teachers at both
schools were passionate about their subject and
really enjoyed teaching and sharing. They
challenged me to think and to explore--not just
to memorise facts and figures."
Kelly) also attended Saltus, says their Dad, former
NASA Bermuda station manager Bill Way, helped
inspire her to pursue what was then considered a
man's world of study. "My father encouraged me to
pursue an Engineering degree and thought I could
and should do whatever I wanted, despite strong
gender barriers at the time."
enter high-tech fields. "The world in which we all live
is highly influenced by STEM [science, technology,
engineering and mathematics]," says Mattix, a
member of ExxonMobil's Educating Women and
Girls Advisory Team Initiative and the Chemical
Women's Leadership Team. "There are amazing
opportunities for challenging careers and we need
the best and the brightest to tackle the challenges
of the 21st century. unfortunately, particularly in
the uS, girls are not enrolling in STEM fields in
high numbers. They are cutting themselves off from
exciting, rewarding and lucrative careers and, even
more importantly, we are losing the benefit of the
great minds of 50 percent of the population--girls
who do not actively consider STEM education."
Mattix, whose husband Rick is also a chemical
engineer and MBA, is a strong believer in pulling
out all the stops to achieve a well-rounded life.
"Too often I see young people talking themselves
out of doing things--`Engineering is too hard;' `I
can't do a sport and a hard degree;' `I can't do both a
career and a family;' `I can't take time for myself.'
For sure," she says, "if you do not even try, you will
not. You have to go for it!"
Mattix / '75
young
people
talking
them-
selves
out of
doing
things.
You have
to go
for it!'
L