Women's History Month: Women in Energy
March is Women's History Month — the perfect time to celebrate the important contributions women have made in the science and energy landscape. Our own Oregon Department of Energy Director, Janine Benner, certainly matches that description. This month, she reflects on fellow trailblazers in energy.
In addition to being a 1940s movie star, Austrian-born Hedy Lamarr was also an inventor. She pioneered technology used in today’s Bluetooth, GPS, and WiFi systems. Dr. Maria Telkes was nicknamed the “Sun Queen” for advancing solar energy at the University of Delaware in the 1970s. In 1918, Katharine Burr Blodgett became the first woman scientist hired by General Electric Research Laboratories, working on molecular glass coatings that were foundational to making glass more efficient, including for solar panels. Annie Easley was a computer scientist and mathematician beginning in the 1950s for the Aircraft Engine Research Laboratory (the NASA Glenn Research Center’s predecessor). She developed code used in energy-conversion systems, including battery technology that was used for early hybrid vehicles. As a history buff, I love learning about the ways women like these overcame barriers to make amazing contributions to science and energy.
Nancy and Janine Benner in the early 1980s.
Modern women continue to move the energy landscape forward. Jennifer M. Granholm served as Secretary of the U.S. Department of Energy from 2021 to early 2025, becoming just the second woman to lead the department since its founding. Dr. Lei Cheng is a Group Leader on Energy Storage and Conversion at the Oakridge National Laboratory, focusing on battery storage technologies. Kelley Ruehl, who completed her M.S. at Oregon State University, is on the Wave Energy and Hydrodynamics team at Sandia National Laboratories, helping to advance the promising technology of marine renewable energy. I’m so proud to count my late mother, Nancy Benner, as one of those recent leaders – she was a trailblazer for building commissioning at a time when it was an industry dominated by men. She would be so pleased to see how the Benner Award, recognizing outstanding achievements in building commissioning, has been awarded to so many leaders and innovators – including a number of women – in the field.
In Oregon, we celebrate many women leaders in energy: two of the three Commissioners serving the Oregon Public Utility Commission, including Chair Megan Decker who will complete her term this month; Portland General Electric CEO Maria Pope; and our own Governor Tina Kotek… among many other trailblazing women who are making and will make history as leaders in our state. It’s an honor to count these women as ODOE’s partners in Oregon’s energy transition.
At the Oregon Department of Energy, we also pay homage to another woman in energy history: Dr. Lise Meitner. Her research led to the discovery of nuclear fission in the 1930s — but like many women in early science careers, her work wasn’t truly acknowledged in her lifetime. Today, in addition to our office building’s Meitner Conference Room, she also has an element named for her: meitnerium. With so many energy challenges in front of us, the Meitner quote on the wall of our conference room rings especially true for me today: “Science makes people reach selflessly for truth and objectivity; it teaches people to accept reality, with wonder and admiration, not to mention the deep awe and joy that the natural order of things brings to the true scientist.”
Many other women have left an indelible mark on energy history – and will continue to make strides as we work to build a cleaner, more sustainable energy future.