Gerri Dickerson's enthusiasm for science and education is unequivocal. The St. Louis native's passion was inspired at an early age with the gift of a chemistry set. From there her path was directed towards the success she has achieved today.

"I thoroughly enjoyed experimenting with reactions and observing the results of combining various chemicals. As a result, general and organic chemistry were my favorite subjects," she says.

Gerri's affinity for chemistry led her to pursue not one, but two undergraduate degrees in science. In 1978, she simultaneously earned a B.S. in chemical engineering from Georgia Tech and a B.S. in natural science from Spelman College through the Dual Degree Engineering Program. Gerri says that participating in the program was a wonderful experience. "I had the best of both worlds - a Spelman liberal arts education coupled with a focused technical education from Tech. While my parents and high school studies provided me with an excellent foundation for my education and adulthood, my college years really propelled me to the next level," she says.

And they propelled her quite far. Gerri's professional successes have been considerable, beginning immediately after college when she began working as a process engineer for The Coca-Cola Company. Next, she worked for the Kinetics Consulting Group and Carlson Associates before joining CH2M HILL as a process engineer in 1991. Since that time, she has served the company in several roles and was named Vice President and Area Manager in 2002. In 2003, Gerri became the Southeast's director for staff growth and development, and in 2005 assumed local leadership of the Environmental Business Group. As Vice President and Area Manager, she oversees a multimillion dollar Georgia operation and manages an office of 365 employees. Gerri is responsible for growing and diversifying the business, creating a positive local brand, and advancing and advocating benchmark client service. CH2M HILL provides full service engineering, consulting, construction, and operations to public, private, and federal clients and has 18,000 employees and 200 offices worldwide.

In addition to her impressive career history, Gerri is also active in the community. She has served as CH2M HILL's College Relations Ambassador to Tech and Spelman, and serves on the CH2M HILL's Board of Directors' Workforce and Diversity Subcommittee, ChBE's External Advisory Board, the Board of Directors for the Regional Leadership Forum, the League of Women Voter's Board of Directors, and the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce's Board of Advisors. In 2005, Gerri was inducted into Tech's College of Engineering Academy of Distinguished Engineering Alumni.