Madison Issac ’13 - I Am Bold
Reflecting on Saint Mary's faculty and staff, they helped me realize I can be anywhere and find the same familial support wherever I go. That foundation gave me confidence in college and in my career to navigate living in new places on my own and move wherever the next project is.
Madison Issac '13
Project Engineer, Hensel Phelps Construction
All-girls education builds confidence.
As we celebrate 90 years of the Annual Fund and 145 years of the Alumnae Association in 2024, we highlight young alumna, Madison Issac '13. Madison credits Saint Mary’s with giving her an array of skills and core competencies. That foundation gave her the confidence to excel in a historically male-dominated profession where she is challenged to be bold, to be inspired, and to become extraordinary.
Madison enrolled as a junior boarder at Saint Mary’s in 2011. She lived in Cruikshank and later in Smedes Hall as a senior. She excelled as a student-athlete on the soccer and cross country teams and performed well academically, resulting in her induction into the National Honor Society.
After Saint Mary’s, Madison attended the University of Michigan’s College of Engineering, graduating in 2017 with a Bachelor of Science in Engineering and a concentration in Civil Engineering. She also studied abroad in China during 2015, taking classes focused on nuclear energy and visiting the Daya Bay and Sanmen nuclear power plant sites.
Today, she’s an ASCE-certified project engineer for Hensel Phelps Construction in Nashville, TN. Madison has been employed with the firm since 2017 where she started as a field engineer, then moved up to become an office engineer, and then a project engineer in 2021.
“I think the coolest project I’ve worked on so far is the Nashville Airport’s terminal lobby renovation and international arrivals facility project,” she shared. “It was a five-year project, and we were required to maintain all airport operations during the course of construction, like building a tunnel under the active airport, as well as a new structure over the top of the existing structure!”
Madison also attends conferences for her firm and helps recruit the next generation of young women in engineering into her profession. She says that when she arrived at Saint Mary’s, she had to integrate herself into a network of people who already knew each other as 9th and 10th-graders.
“I had to find ways to connect with people who didn’t know me and who had a different background than me. In my career, those skills are what I have to leverage every day. It’s my job to connect and find things in common with each person I meet to develop relationships.”
Reflecting on the Saint Mary’s community and residential faculty she lived alongside, Madison says, “They helped me realize I can be anywhere and find the same familial support wherever I go. That foundation gave me confidence in college and in my career to navigate living in new places on my own and move wherever the next project is.”
By investing in Saint Mary’s, you ensure a future where we continue to graduate bold women leaders, innovators, and changemakers like Madison. Your contribution, no matter the size, has a ripple effect that extends far beyond the walls of our school, touching the lives of countless individuals and communities.
We hope you will join with us and other members of the Saint Mary's community to help shape our young women leaders of tomorrow by making your 24-25 Annual Fund gift or pledge today. Your support is integral to our mission of empowering girls for college and life to help them reach their full potential.
To contribute to the Annual Fund, make a pledge, or a three-year commitment, visit www.sms.edu/madison13.
Thank you for your partnership and for supporting today's Saint Mary's girls.
