Betty A. Shanahan

Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer, Society of Women Engineers

Betty Shanahan is the executive director and CEO for the 20,000 member Society of Women Engineers (SWE). Prior to joining SWE in 2002, Betty spent 24 years in development, engineering management, and marketing management for the electronics and software industries.  Betty has earned a B.S. in electrical engineering from Michigan State University, a Master of Software Engineering from the Wang Institute of Graduate Studies, and an M.B.A. in strategic management from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.

Betty participates in several forums that advance the engineering profession, including the National Academy of Engineering’s committee for “Changing the Conversation” in the public understanding of engineering and their committee for the Lifelong Learning Imperative in Engineering. She serves on the Alumni Board of the Michigan State University College of Engineering, Clemson University College of Engineering and Science Advisory Board, and vice-president of Council of Engineering and Scientific Society Executives. In 2010 she was the first woman to receive the Claud R. Erickson Distinguished Alumnus Award from the College of Engineering at Michigan State University.

Betty is a fellow life member of SWE, a Certified Association Executive, and a member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, the American Society of Civil Engineers, and the American Society of Association Executives.