Ruth Carolyn White Buggy

Ruth Carolyn White Buggy, SWE Pioneer and Life Member, was an active member of the Philadelphia Section from when she transferred from the Washington, DC area in 1960 until failing health caused her to curtail her activities in the early 1990s. Throughout the 1960s and 1970s she served in most Section offices, often for multiple terms. She was also an active career guidance committee member, science fair judge, and high school career day speaker. Carolyn was one of the two Section working delegates to the Engineering and Technical Societies Council (ETSCO) for most of 1964 through 1984. Many times her husband, Rodman Buggy, sat in for her and SWE at the ETSCO meetings. Carolyn established the Junior Engineering Technical Society (JETS) in the Delaware Valley; she and Rodman ran most of the program for about two decades. She was named to the Philadelphia Section Hall of Fame in 1989.

Before coming to the Philadelphia area, she served as Society Vice President for in 1957-and as Washington Section Director.

Carolyn originally intended to become a doctor and had studied medicine for three years before deciding that her interests lay elsewhere. She graduated from the University of California at Berkeley in 1932 with a BA in Mathematics as an actuary, with secondary training in economics and physics. She continued on at the school for a Masters degree in education and additional study in mathematics. After teaching for several years in a one-room school house in southern Arizona, she joined the US Navy. In October 1943 she was commissioned an Ensign in the Naval Reserve and assigned to the Navy’s Radar School at Harvard University and then to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. As a LT(jg) she taught at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard and helped to establish Electronic Shops at other naval shipyards. She also served as Assistant Design Superintendent and Head of the Management Planning and Review Department at the Philadelphia facility. The Navy recognized her exceptional expertise in electronics when she was designated the first woman Engineering Duty Officer. Carolyn served in the Navy for 21 years and retired as a full Commander in 1963, at which time she was still the only woman Engineering Duty Officer the Navy ever had. Carolyn’s advice to young women pursuing a career in engineering: “Don’t have a chip on your shoulder.”

Ruth Carolyn White Buggy was born in Bisbee, Arizona on December 30, 1911 and died in Philadelphia on July 13, 1995. She and Rodman had just celebrated their 37th wedding anniversary.

Sources:
Eulogy of Carolyn Buggy by Rodman Buggy
SWE Archives - Member Application
"Navy Names First Woman E.D.O." BUSHIPS JOURNAL. June 1952: 22-23.
"In Memorium CDR Ruth Carolyn White Buggy." THE OUTLOOK. September 1995.
Personal memories – Barbara C. Faust

Mission: Stimulate women to achieve full potential in careers as engineers and leaders, expand the image of the engineering profession as a positive force in improving the quality of life, demonstrate the value of diversity.