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SAE Elects First Woman President

22 December 1999

SAE Elects First Woman President

    WARRENDALE, Pa., Dec. 22 -- The Society of Automotive
Engineers has elected its first woman president, Rodica A. Baranescu, Chief
Engineer, Navistar International Transportation Corporation, Chicago,
Illinois.
    Baranescu will serve as President Elect until March 2000, when, at the
conclusion of SAE's 2000 World Congress, she will become the first woman
elected to the highest post of the nearly 80,000-member organization.
    Baranescu joined SAE in 1980, the same year she began employment at
Navistar.  She has been active in SAE, serving a two-year term as a member of
the SAE Board of Directors in 1995-97.  Earlier this year, she was elected an
SAE Fellow, an honor that recognizes important engineering achievements of
members and enhances the status of SAE's contributions to the profession and
the general public.
    She was a member of SAE's International Coordinating Committee and
currently is serving as a member of the Sections Board, using her
international experience to help the globalization efforts of SAE
International.  During 1997, she actively supported the formation of two
Romanian Joint Groups, a cooperative activity between SAE and the Romanian
automotive society (SIAR).
    Born in Romania, she holds a doctorate in mechanical engineering from the
Technical University of Bucharest, Romania.  She also taught at the University
for 13 years before coming to the United States.
    At Navistar, Baranescu has worked as an engineer and manager to advance
the social acceptability of diesel engines.  Her technical efforts have
advanced and encouraged the understanding of engine design, combustion,
thermodynamics and alternative fuels.  She has served as chair of the
Alternative Fuels Committee for the Engine Manufacturers Association since
1983.
    Active in the SAE Chicago Section, Baranescu served as chair in 1994.
Under her leadership, the section earned the Gold Award of Excellence.
Baranescu and her husband George live in Western Springs, Illinois, a suburb
of Chicago.