Jill Tietjen facts for kids

Jill S. Tietjen, born in 1954, is an amazing American electrical engineer. She's also a consultant, a writer, and a speaker who helps people. Jill is the boss of her own company, Technically Speaking, Inc., which she started in Greenwood Village, Colorado, in 2000. Her company helps electric power companies.

Jill has written or helped write fourteen books and over 100 technical papers. She is a big supporter of girls and women getting involved in STEM fields. STEM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math. She creates scholarships to help women study engineering and technology. She also helps nominate women for important awards and halls of fame. Jill was honored in the Colorado Women's Hall of Fame in 2010 and the Colorado Authors Hall of Fame in 2019. In 2022, she was chosen for the National Academy of Construction.

Early Life and Education

Jill was born Karen Jill Stein in Newport News, Virginia, in 1954. She is the oldest of four children. Her father was an engineer with a PhD who worked at NASA.

Jill went to Hampton High School. In 1972, she joined the third group of women allowed to study at the University of Virginia. She finished her studies in 1976. She majored in applied mathematics and minored in electrical engineering. Jill was one of the first ten women to graduate with an engineering degree from that university.

After college, she started working at Duke Power Company in Charlotte, North Carolina. While working, she earned her MBA degree from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte in 1979.

Career in Engineering and Consulting

After working for five years as a planning engineer at Duke Power, Jill moved to Denver, Colorado, in 1981. She became a planning analyst for Mobil Oil Corporation in their mining and coal division. In 1983, the energy business slowed down.

The next year, in 1984, she started working as a consultant for electric power companies. She was an assistant vice president at Stone & Webster Management Consultants in Greenwood Village. She held this job until 1992. From 1992 to 1995, she was a principal at RCG/Hagler Bailly in Boulder, where she managed utility planning.

Jill returned to Stone & Webster to manage their Denver office from 1995 to 1997. During this time, she acted as an expert witness for electric power companies. She spoke before government groups that set rules for these companies.

From 1997 to 2000, Tietjen focused on helping women in education. She was the director of the Women in Engineering Program at the University of Colorado Boulder. Between 1997 and 2008, she helped check and approve engineering programs across the country. She did this for groups like the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE).

In 2000, she started her own company, Technically Speaking, Inc. This company provides advice and help to electric power companies. From 2001 to 2008, she also worked as a senior engineer at McNeil Technologies. From 2003 to 2005, she was a senior management consultant at R. W. Beck.

Championing Women in STEM

Jill Tietjen is a strong supporter of girls and women getting involved in STEM fields. She guides and advises women and girls who are thinking about careers in engineering and technology. She has also created scholarships to help women study technology at several universities. These include the University of Virginia, the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, and the University of Colorado Boulder. She also supports scholarships through the Society of Women Engineers.

Jill believes it's important for women to have role models. She often nominates women for awards and halls of fame in engineering and technology. Her first nomination was for computer scientist Grace Hopper. Grace Hopper invented one of the first tools that helped computers understand code in 1952. In 1991, Grace Hopper received the National Medal of Technology and Innovation. Jill accepted this award for Hopper from President George H. W. Bush at a ceremony. Jill has nominated over 30 women who have been chosen for the National Women's Hall of Fame.

Writing and Public Speaking

Jill Tietjen is an editor for the Women in Engineering and Science book series by Springer. She also wrote the first book in this series. She wrote articles for The Huffington Post from 2014 to 2018. Her articles were about the historical achievements of women.

Jill learned about public speaking in her first job at Duke Power Company. She gave presentations about nuclear power for the company. Later, she used her speaking skills to give expert testimony for electric power companies. She also works as a motivational speaker. She talks about women in engineering, famous women in science and engineering history, and leadership.

Memberships and Leadership Roles

Jill Tietjen was chosen to be on the national board of the Society of Women Engineers in 1988. She served as its national president from 1991 to 1992. She was also the first woman on the board of directors for the Rocky Mountain Electrical League. She was also that group's first woman president.

She was the board chair for the Girl Scouts – Mile Hi Council from 1999 to 2007. She joined the board of the National Women's Hall of Fame from 2009 to 2014. In 2015, she became the CEO of the National Women's Hall of Fame.

Jill is an Outside Director for the Georgia Transmission Corporation. She also served as an Outside Director for Merrick & Company from 2010 to 2021. Since 2008, she has been a trustee for the University of Virginia School of Engineering and Applied Science.

Awards and Recognitions

Jill Tietjen has been listed in important books like Who's Who in Engineering, Who's Who in Science and Engineering, and Who's Who in Technology. She was honored in the Colorado Women's Hall of Fame in 2010. In 2019, she was inducted into the Colorado Authors' Hall of Fame. In 2022, she was chosen for the National Academy of Construction.

Personal Life

In 1976, Jill married her first husband, who was also an engineering student at the University of Virginia. She became known as Jill S. Baylor. They divorced in 1994. She was married to David Tietjen from 1996 until 2024. She lives in Centennial, Colorado.