Judith Nitsch, PE, LEED AP BD+C, the President of Nitsch Engineering, was awarded a Doctor of Science, Honoris Causa degree by the Massachusetts Maritime Academy at their 167th commencement on June 19, 2010. The honor recognizes Ms. Nitsch for her contributions to the engineering field and her efforts to encourage others to pursue engineering careers.
A graduate of Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Ms. Nitsch has worked for 35 years in the field of civil engineering. She quickly advanced her career, becoming a Vice President and Branch Manager at Freeman Engineering Company (a Division of Schofield Brothers) within three years of beginning work. She became a member of the Board of Directors and shareholder of Allen & Demurjian within one year of joining the company; the company was renamed Allen, Demurjian, Major & Nitsch shortly thereafter. In 1989, Allen, Demurjian, Major & Nitsch was purchased, and Ms. Nitsch decided to take the opportunity to found her own consulting engineering firm.
Nitsch Engineering quickly grew under Ms. Nitsch’s leadership, even earning a ranking of #172 on the 1996 Inc. 500, the list of the fastest growing privately held companies in the United States. As President of the civil engineering, land surveying, transportation engineering, sustainable site consulting, planning, and GIS firm, Ms. Nitsch oversees the firm’s strategic planning and marketing aspects, and serves as principal-in‑charge on a select few of the firm’s design projects.
A pioneer in the civil engineering profession, Ms. Nitsch was the youngest individual and first woman to serve as President of the American Council of Engineering Companies of Massachusetts and the first woman to serve as President of the Boston Society of Civil Engineers Section/ASCE. For her contributions to the field, Ms. Nitsch has received many prestigious awards, including the American Society of Civil Engineers’ Parcel-Sverdrup Engineering Management Award, the Boston Society of Architects Women in Design Award, the Patriots’ Trail Girl Scout Council’s Leading Women Award, and the Women’s Transportation Seminar Boston Chapter Woman of the Year award. Throughout her distinguished career, Ms. Nitsch has promoted the education of young engineers; at Nitsch Engineering, she is actively involved in planning the company’s annual “Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day” and she was featured in the 2006 book Changing Our World: True Stories of Women Engineers, which was written to celebrate the contributions of women engineers to modern society.