When Judy Vance was in high school, engineering was never mentioned as an option for a woman.

She said she loved math and always thought she knew more than her math teachers.

She went to college, but dropped out her freshman year and spent time working as a bank teller. In time, she decided to go back to school for engineering and continue her love of math.

Vance, currently an associate professor in the mechanical engineering department, will start her new position as the head of the department on July 1.

She will be the first woman to head a department in the College of Engineering. She said she hopes to increase diversity of all kinds within her department.

Vance said being the minority is not necessarily a bad thing.

“I stick out, which is an advantage and a disadvantage,” Vance said.

“People remember me if I do something good or if I do something bad, because I’m the only woman in the room.”

Vance said she is really honored to be given such an important job.

She said she is excited to have the opportunity to affect a lot of people by her decisions and be able to interact with different faculty, staff and students.

“She is very respected among her colleagues in the mechanical engineering department and the College of Engineering as a whole,” said James Melsa, dean of the College of Engineering.

“I’m delighted for Judy. It’s a very important and difficult responsibility, and I think that she is definitely one of those special people that has the talent to take on the job,” said James Bernard, distinguished professor in the virtual reality applications center.

“It’s good for Iowa State University, the College of Engineering and the mechanical engineering department.”

Vance said she will be in charge of approximately 35 faculty, 10 staff members, 1,000 undergraduates and 200 graduate students.

“It is exciting to be working at one of the most respected engineering programs in the country,” she said.

The mechanical engineering department is the largest program at Iowa State.

She said she hopes to hire more faculty for the shorthanded mechanical engineering department, because she feels more faculty are necessary for the program to grow.

“[I want to] improve the graduate program while maintaining the undergraduate program,” Vance said. “[It will allow] good things to happen.”

Approximately 11 percent of undergraduates in the mechanical engineering department are women, which is the lowest among any of the engineering departments, according to the department’s Web site, www.me.iastate.edu. Women account for 16 percent of all undergraduates in the College of Engineering.

Vance said she believes there are infinite possibilities for women in mechanical engineering.

“I feel that there’s nothing that women can’t do in this field,” she said.