Teri Regan Maco Exeter belongs to the first class of undergraduate women to attend Lehigh University, graduating in 1975 with a BS in chemical engineering. Her time at Lehigh was marked by navigating a male-dominated campus and field of study and establishing a women's presence on campus that would only develop with the generations that followed her. Teri has had a fruitful career working in operations and finance for various companies including Johnson & Johnson. She now operates a consulting practice with her sons.
What was it like being a part of the first class of admitted women at Lehigh?
I remember walking into Stoughton Hall in the fall of 1971 as an excited freshman. It was an honor and a privilege to be one of the first 100 women to be matriculated into Lehigh. As a young girl, college was beyond a dream for me — I was a first generation college student.
Why did you decide to come to lehigh?
I was always strong in math and science, so my guidance counselor suggested I look at Lehigh. I loved that Lehigh was a small school and close to home. I looked at Lehigh, Princeton, and Penn State, but ultimately Lehigh had the most hands-on engineering program and offered me the best financial aid package!
If you were in a major that skewed male, how did you navigate through that?
I majored in chemical engineering, which was not only a difficult field of study, but it was male-dominated. The labs were challenging, especially carrying the heavy chemicals — I remember being asked to drag a 55 gallon drum that weighed about 500 pounds. I figured there had to be a way to move it without using strength, and there was: I tilted it and rolled it using my fingertips. My problem solving bought me the respect of my peers who were willing to work with me and treat me as an equal.
My major also affected my social life — being an engineer and needing to maintain a certain GPA to keep my scholarship, on top of having a job off campus as a cost accountant, meant I did not have a lot of time to form lasting friendships.
How did your friendships and relationships with other women at Lehigh shape your student experience?
Being in the first class of women, being shy, and coming from a proud but poor background meant I felt like a fish out of water during my first few weeks at Lehigh. From my perspective, the women of Lehigh were so much more worldly than I was. I had few women friends, but the ones I did have were wonderful, and I’ve kept in contact with some of them.
There was a beautiful feeling of kinship among us. I remember I was invited to the Military Ball as a freshman. A few of the girls knew I had limited funds, so my entire floor in Stoughton banded together to loan me finery and makeup. I was lucky enough to be the recipient of that giving nature and was able to give it back many times over the years.
What are you doing now?
I’ve had successful careers with Bristol Myers, Procter and Gamble, Unilever, and Johnson and Johnson in operations and finance. I picked up an MBA along the way, which allowed me to achieve an executive level position at Johnson & Johnson while still in my 30s. I decided that I achieved my career goal and "retired" to raise my children, while volunteering extensively in my community. Today, my sons and I operate a tax and consultancy practice called Maco and Associates where we specialize in guiding business start ups.
How did your experience as a woman at Lehigh prepare you for the professional and person you are today?
My experience at Lehigh was the best professional preparation I could have ever had. Being in engineering meant I was constantly flexing my problem-solving muscles and working to gain the respect of others, which has served me well in my career and personal life. I recall my professors telling us that the best engineers are those who can solve problems, not those who memorized the books. I gained a valuable lesson from one of them who compared life to science in that it is dynamic, so you evaluate everything based on the facts at hand — that is something I’ve always carried with me.