Keystone Central Foundation announces 2023 Hall of Fame inductees
BALD EAGLE TOWNSHIP, PA – The Keystone Central Foundation has announced the six members of its 2023 Hall of Fame class. They will be recognized at the organization’s hall of fame induction ceremony on Saturday, Feb. 18 at the Central Mountain High School cafeteria.
The six members for this year as announced by the Foundation’s Alumni and Friends Association:
Mary Louise Ilgen, Sugar Valley High School, Class of 1943
DuWayne Kunes, Bald Eagle-Nittany High School, Class of 1976
William Rishell, Bald Eagle-Nittany High School, Class of 1958
Dennis “Jack” Royer, Bald Eagle-Nittany High School, Class of1958
Thomas “Doc” Sweitzer, Lock Haven High School, Class of 1971
Robbie Gould, Central Mountain High School, Class of 2001
The Hall of Fame was established to recognize graduates from the high schools which have been part of the Keystone Central attendance area. Information on attending the 2023 ceremony may be found at the foundation’s website: kcfoundation.com.
The Record and therecord-online will be running periodic stories on the new inductees in the weeks leading up to the Feb. 18 event. The first of those is Mary Louise Ilgen (information provided by the foundation:
Mary Louise Ilgen
Sugar Valley Class of 1943
Mary Lucille Ilgen was born in 1927 to Samuel and Mabel Ilgen. Growing up in Sugar Valley, Mary attended a one room school house in Loganton and Booneville, Pennsylvania during her first eight years of schooling. After graduating from the Sugar Valley High School with honors in 1943 Mary attended Pennsylvania State College (now the Penn State University), graduating in 1948 with a degree in Aeronautical Engineering.
Mary was the first woman to graduate from Penn State University with a degree in aeronautical engineering. She was awarded an honorary woman’s membership in Tau Beta Pi, an all-male national engineering honor society.
After graduation from Penn State University, Mary went to work for Douglas Aircraft Company, Inc. in Santa Monica, California. She continued with Douglas through the merger with McDonnell Corporation in the late 1960’s. She was a member of the Performance Group of the Aerodynamics Section. There she worked on the development of the DC-6, DC-7, DC-8 and DC-10.
In 1949, she began flight instruction and obtained her pilot’s license. She became the Chief of the Flight Test and Certification Performance Branch of the Performance and Operations Section of Aerodynamics for Douglas’s Long Beach facility.
During her career, Mary made major contributions to the design and development of several aircraft models as the DC-6, DC-7, DC-8, DC-9, DC-10, MD-80 and MD-11. She had the technical responsibility for the Certification efforts for most of the aforementioned aircraft models. She also participated in many military studies and several proposals for cargo versions of these transports. She became a representative for McDonnell Douglas Corporation (MDC) to the FAA National Transportation Safety Board. She traveled extensively in her work.
During her career, Mary received numerous awards and recognitions from her alma mater. She was named “Penn State Woman of the Year” in 1971, and was honored as “Outstanding Engineering Alumni” in 1988. She was also a member of the Penn State University Engineer Advisory Committee for eight years. The collection of papers of alumnus Mary L. Ilgen, 1948-1979 are on file at Penn State University. Included in the collection are photographs, speeches, artifacts, papers, programs, booklets, lab reports, notebooks, awards, Tau Beta Phi materials, and publications.
In September, 1967, Douglas selected Mary Ilgen as Engineering Personality of the Month. In 1994, after 46 years, Mary retired from McDonnell Douglas Corporation.
In September, 1972 Mary was a panelist at the Conference on “Assuring the Acceptance of the Woman Administrator”, sponsored by the Department of Marketing and Transportation of California State University at Los Angeles. The attached presentation was titled “How to Strengthen the Image of the Woman Administrator”. Following is an excerpt from her writings:
“What can we do to strengthen the image of the woman administrator? We strengthen her image by helping her build her self-confidence. We help her build the image she should have as a person who can make continued contributions to the organization. We should do exactly what we would do for any man and certainly any male manager. We should recognize the woman as an individual and respect her specific abilities. We should provide meaningful work assignments which allow continued personal growth. We should provide honest recognition for deserved achievement while being empathetic for human frailties. This is how we will strengthen the image of the woman administrator.”
In 1997 Mary was chosen for the Amelia Earhart Society Association Honorary Award for
Women Pioneers in the field of aviation. The society wrote the following: “Mary was the first woman Aeronautical Engineering graduate of Pennsylvania State University. As a member of an elite group of engineers for 46 years, Mary contributed to the design, development and world- wide certification of all DAC aircraft models from the DC-6 through the MD-11. Her vast knowledge and expertise inspired many young engineers, and her mentoring earned her recognition as a Legend in Her Time”.
Mary was a member of Mount Calvary Lutheran Church for 18 years. She was also a member of the Ninety-Niners, a women’s flying club. Although most of her life revolved around aircraft and flying, she also enjoyed traveling, going on cruises, gardening, and was an amateur radio operator.
Mary was truly a genius and a pioneer in her chosen profession. Mary died on October 8, 1997 in Cypress, California at the age of 70. In her memory the Mary Ilgen Scholarship in Aerospace Engineering was established at Penn State University. The scholarship is awarded annually for outstanding full-time undergraduate students who are enrolled, or planning to enroll, in the Department of Aerospace Engineering in the College of Engineering who have a proven financial need and who have achieved positive academic records.
