I am mission success: Edwena Crowe
Edwena Crowe has amassed an impressive 50-year career in Oak Ridge.
In 1971, a postage stamp cost 8 cents, Disney World opened, and the Apollo 14 mission launched. Also that year, Edwena Crowe began what has become a 50-year career journey Oak Ridge.
“I set a goal for myself to work for at least 50 years,” Crowe said. “I must say, it has come a lot quicker than I thought.”
Since 2014, Crowe has been Procedures, Documents, and Records Management director for CNS. In that role, she and a 90 person staff work to ensure documents and records are properly created, approved and released for use, and archived in support of production and operations.
Crowe graduated from South Carolina State University, a historically black institution, in 1971, and was the first woman to earn a civil engineering technology degree there. While at the university, she interned at the Atomic Energy Commission, now the U.S. Department of Energy. After graduation, “I came to Oak Ridge to work and never left,” she said.
Then a young engineer, Crowe works on a project in the Engineering Division at the Oak Ridge Gaseous Diffusion Plant (K‑25 site) in 1972.
The Aiken, South Carolina, native worked at Union Carbide’s K-25 site from 1971 to 1982. There she was a technical assistant in the Engineering Division’s Career Development Program, a maintenance planning specialist, and an engineer. After that, Crowe came to Lockheed Martin Energy Systems, where she served as Enrichment Facilities Management director, deputy site manager at East Tennessee Technology Park (K-25 site), Quality Programs Division manager, department head and deputy director, safety director (K-25 site), and engineer. A stint at Bechtel Jacobs through 2000 followed, which included a position as executive assistant to the president. For the last 21 years, Crowe has had leadership roles in property, documents, and records information services management; internal audits; and executive offices at Pantex and Y-12.
Crowe thoroughly enjoys working and shows no signs of stopping.
“I truly look forward to coming to work on a daily basis,” Crowe said. “Seven days a week I could work for this company.”