In 1971, Stevens accepted their first class of female students. Three years later, nineteen-year-old Lenore Schupak, one of the first 18 women to attend Stevens, graduated with a Bachelors of Applied Science.
Schupak initially planned to attend MIT, her father’s alma mater but was impressed with Stevens after hearing about it at the 1971 North Jersey Science and Mathematics Fair held at Fairleigh Dickinson University in Teaneck. John Jansen ‘23 was a judge at the fair and presented her an award from the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) for her project, “There’s Gold in Garbage.” Jansen invited her to attend an Old Guard dinner at Stevens where he introduced her to several deans and alumni. After speaking with the deans, Schupak immediately knew that she wanted to attend Stevens.
Once on campus, she was part of a small, close-knit group of women who participated in many activities together. As the number of women attending the university during her junior and senior years increased, more activities became available for them. When she first came to campus, there were no organized women’s sports at either the club or varsity level. Schupak explained, “I was interested in racket sports and Coach Partel invited me to be the manager for the men’s tennis and squash teams, which I gladly accepted.” She also enjoyed the Yacht club and was a sports photographer for The Stute. During her junior and senior years, she and the other women of her class became mentors for the younger students. They quickly learned there was power in numbers, and by the time she graduated, they were able to join the Glee Club.
Even though she was dramatically outnumbered by men, in an interview she stated, “It didn’t seem that odd to me… In all my classes, I may have been the only girl. It didn’t seem all that unusual.” She grew up with two brothers and a sister and went to high school with boys. She felt comfortable on campus and enjoyed the whole process of going to college. “I was friends with all my classmates, everyone was very friendly,” Schupak remarked.
Prior to coming to Stevens, Schupak had always had a strong interest in the environment. She wanted to pursue a degree in that area, but at the time the school did not have any related programs. She instead pursued a degree that focused on operations management and enrolled in courses in the civil engineering department that gave her a stronger background in water engineering.
The environmental engineering field was in its very early stages when Schupak graduated. “It was a fledgling industry, it wasn’t an industry yet,” she recalled. “We didn’t have internships or anything like that but Stevens always had a good placement office. We did interviews on campus. They would bring in good companies.” She was sought after by many companies including Carrier, the EPA, and various oil companies. After graduation, she worked for Carrier Corp, located in Syracuse, NY, where she worked as a Development Engineer for trash incineration. There she simultaneously completed her Master’s degree in Environmental/Sanitary Engineering from Syracuse University. Following that, she worked for General Motors in Flint, Michigan where she implemented new regulations and managed hazardous waste disposal issues, PCBs, and air quality. That being said, her most memorable job was at American Standard.
“It was a great job. I really enjoyed it. A lot of hands-on work and lots of variety.” Schupak stated. She was recruited to initiate and run a new department for environmental affairs. Every issue was an environmental issue, from metalwork foundries to steel manufacturing. She had a mix of field work and policy work, which she found fascinating. She was responsible for worldwide environmental compliance, controls, and management.
She noted that in all the jobs she’s had, there have been innovative and new aspects to them. She loves learning and itches to expand her knowledge through her roles. For 20 years, she ran her own consulting company with LHS Environmental Management Inc. which handled remediation of hazardous waste for leading companies in transportation, manufacturing, telecommunication, and consumer food products.
After all her prior experiences, she wanted to start anew. Today, she works as a Managing Director of Operations and Research at a law firm in New Jersey.
Aside from her extensive career path, she enjoys walking, swimming, playing tennis, and working on big puzzles. She tries to attend alumni events regularly and was involved with the Alumni Association for many years.
When asked to give advice to graduating seniors she said, “You have to do what you enjoy. Make sure you get a return on your investment. The main thing is that you need to do what you enjoy. If you follow that path, you’re going to be successful no matter what.”
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