MIT's First Lady Engineer
February-March 1949 Issue
The Builder
Serving as an inspiration to others of her sex, the former Miss Natividad Vera, was considered the “bravest” of the so called weaker sex at the time when she enrolled in the department of Civil Engineering of the Mapúa Institute of Technology. It may not be amiss to state here, nevertheless, that an older brother, Enrique R. Vera, had served as her own inspiration to pursue the course, since brother “Iquing” had previously enrolled in the same course and was “doing fine” when she entered the portals of the Institute.
Brother Enrique graduated in 1931, which class, by the way, produced the first topnotcher in C.E. of the Mapúa Tech. In 1933, the whole Vera clan had to assist the graduation exercises at the old Manila Grand Opera House because the young lady was to receive the first diploma with the B.S. C.E. degree to be awarded by the MIT to a lady.
The former Miss Vera has been connected with several construction firms and has definitely proved beyond the shadow of any doubt that engineering is NOT gentlemen alone.
To her, for her daring in tackling a career that used to be reserved for the stronger sex and inspiring others like her to take up engineering, we raise our voices with a loud “Mabuhay – God Bless you!”