Mary Pensworth Reagor

Mary Pensworth Reagor (born on October 1, 1945) is a Lockheed Martin Technical Fellow at for Mathematical Algorithms. She is also a tutor for high school and college students with her husband, an alumna of Georgia Institute of Technology. Her education started at Agnes Scott College where she majored in mathematics. She continued her education in graduate work in mathematics at University of Texas at Austin. After receiving her Master's degree, she began her career at Lockheed Martin as a Senior Aerospace Engineer. She later earned her Ph.D. from Texas Christian University with her dissertation in fuzzy logic applications. She went on to teach mathematics and computer information systems for six years until she resumed her engineering career at Lockheed Martin Aeronautics.

Reagor was born on October 1, 1945 in Knoxville, Tennessee. She originally aspired to become a physician until her uncles and her struggles in spelling discouraged her, leading her to switch her major to mathematics in college. She attended Agnes Scott College after graduating from Oak Ridge (TN) high school. Like most women in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics fields during the 1960s, she had her share of socially difficult experiences in her high school years while academically competing with male students.

Reagor began her career as an engineer at Lockheed Martin (formerly known as General Dynamics) after she received her Master's degree in 1969 from University of Texas at Austin. She was the first female engineer to attend the company-sponsored Management Training Seminar. She left Lockheed Martin to raise her daughters, intending to come back after three years. However, three years turned into a 15-year hiatus. This impediment did not dissuade her from her career path, as she later earned her Ph.D. in 1983 from Texas Christian University in a branch of mathematics with a dissertation entitled “A fuzzy version of Tietze’s extension theorem”. She then became an educator at Weatherford College from 1983-1989, where she taught mathematics and computer informational systems. Subsequently, she returned to Lockheed Martin Aeronautics as an engineer once more. Her knowledge in abstract mathematics had applications in the real world, contributing in “...defending the nation and enhancing military effectiveness.”. She is “...the co-inventor of the Reagor Lynn Method (RLM), a unique mathematical technique for creating compact, accurate, high-performance models of complex physical phenomena.” (TCU Magazine). Using her fuzzy logic applications, she developed a computer software technique that helped lower the risk crashes for fighter pilots. The military named it “ground-collision avoidance”. Her invention also helped create DATASCAPE, which processes payments in a secure and efficient manner.

Her current position is Lockheed Martin Technical Fellow for Mathematical Algorithms. Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Company chose only 23 individuals out of three company locations and she was the sole female engineer. This new program is for preserving and passing on the “...brain trust of its senior scientists.”. Her contribution to the program was her expertise in mathematical algorithms.

Reagor has received multiple awards at Lockheed Martin Aeronautics, one from Women in Aerospace organization, and one from Agnes Scott College Alumnae Association:

• Stellar Performance Award for Technical Excellence from Lockheed Martin Aeronautics (1997)
• Lockheed Martin Aeronautics’s NOVA Award for Technical Excellence (1997) for “...the highest recognition for individual or team achievements...”
• Outstanding Achievement Award (2005) “...from the Women in Aerospace organization for ‘her pioneering work in the development of fuzzy logic applications resulting in extremely versatile, widely-applicable data-mining and modeling tools for complex multivariate systems.’ ”
• Outstanding Alumnae Distinguished Career Award (2007) from the Agnes Scott College Alumnae Association