Reverse-Finkbeiner, Bill Nye

by Lara Dolphin

William Sanford Nye defied typical gender roles
by earning a degree in mechanical engineering
from Cornell University. He went on to enter
the labor force bringing the male gaze to Boeing
where his co-workers found him agreeable and interesting.
His invention of a hydraulic resonance suppressor tube
helped Nye to feel equal amongst his female contemporaries
and caused him to serve as a role model for aspiring male
underlings in the competitive field of jet airliner design.
Though his dream of fatherhood was never realized,
he compensated by volunteering with Big Brothers
Big Sisters of America and by nurturing children’s minds
through public television programming. Nye continues
to “have it all” balancing scientific exploration,
political advocacy and public education with
gardening, swing dance and planetary exploration.
And although he occasionally succumbs to guilt
at not having reached his potential, he still believes
that he has not wasted his life by spending time on science.

* * * * *

"Reverse-Finkbeiner, Bill Nye" was first published by OVS.

Lara Dolphin is an attorney, nurse, wife and mom of four amazing kids; she is exhausted and elated most of the time.