Miriam Gerla

Miriam "Mickey" Kleeger Gerla (1919–1993) was an American mechanical engineer and management consultant who served as president of the Society of Women Engineers.

Education and career

Gerla was born in 1919, and held an office job after graduating from Bay Ridge High School in Brooklyn. In 1939, she married mechanical engineer Morton Gerla, who encouraged her to return to her studies. She became a student at the University of Maryland, College Park, where she graduated in 1944 with a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering (with "aeronautical option").

From 1944 to 1953 she worked as an engineer on equipment for the US Navy, machinery for factories, and electrical power systems. From 1954 until 1960 (when she adopted a preteen son and retired to devote herself to his care) she worked as a management consultant.

She died in 1993.

SWE service

Gerla was a founding member of the Society of Women Engineers (SWE), chaired the New York Section of the SWE from 1949 to 1951 (through the official founding of the SWE in 1950), and remained active afterwards in various service roles of the SWE, including membership in the board of directors and a vice presidency. In October 1956, while serving again as a member of the SWE's board of directors, she was called up to return to the vice president role on the death of the former vice president, Dorothea "Dotti" Perry. Then, in November 1956, president Lois Graham resigned, citing disagreements with the board and the pressure of her ongoing doctoral studies. Gerla was called again to step in, finished out the term, and continued as president for a second term ending in June 1958. Her tenure as presidency was marked by an increase in membership to approximately 650 members, a transition from an all-volunteer organization to hiring professional secretarial assistance, and a major revision of the organization's bylaws.