Kathryn Gordon

“U of I taught me to take risks, something every engineer must do,” said Kathryn “Kit” Gordon. “You persevere and keep trying.”

Long before she earned a Chemical Engineering degree from Illinois and master’s degrees in electrical engineering and business administration from Santa Clara University, Gordon was already practicing perseverance. Despite going to a high school that did not offer honors or AP classes and failing to pass the chemistry placement exam for Chemical Engineering majors, Gordon never wavered from pursuing ChemE at Illinois.

Her perseverance paid off. She received tenure with the semiconductor firm Monolithic Memories and has since obtained numerous patents related to semiconductors. She also cofounded Botanic Organic, a natural cosmetics company, and currently volunteers as a watershed resource advisor for the San Francisco Bay area.

Read more about Gordon here.

Visit Botanic Organic’s website here.

Article & photo: ChBE Illinois

Vignette written by: Taylor Tucker, September 2017

Go back to stories

CookieSettings CookieSettings