Trailblazer Alumna Gloria McCutcheon PhD’14 Has Passed Away
First woman engineer hired by the Wis. Department of Natural Resources, Gloria Lucille Caban was born and raised in Granity City, IL. Her father was a steelworker and her mother was a school secretary. She was named valedictorian of her 1965 class having excelled at math, science and playing the clarinet.
Gloria studied Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, earning (BS 1969) and (MS 1970) degrees at a time when there were very few women in the engineering professions. While at the University of Illinois, she met graduate student William “Bill” McCutcheon; they married in August 1969.
In fall 1970, Gloria began her career with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR), where she became the first woman engineer hired by the agency. Starting as a plan reviewer in the sanitary treatment division in Madison, Gloria rose through the organization, following her passion for protecting the environment. In 1983 she moved to Milwaukee to become the Southeast Regional Director, a role she held for over 25 years until her retirement.
Gloria’s love of learning led her to the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Nelson Institute, earning her Ph.D. in Environmental Studies in 2014. Her doctoral research focused on infrastructure sustainability and environmental planning.
More Alumni Notes
First woman engineer hired by the Wis. Department of Natural Resources, Gloria Lucille Caban was born and raised in Granity City, IL. Her father wa...