When Lelia Thompson Flagg, a 1960 graduate in civil engineering, arrived at Missouri S&T for the first time, there were no dorms for her to stay in. Instead, she stayed with a Black family south of campus while earning her degree.
Flagg was the first Black woman to graduate from Missouri S&T and was one of only 11 women during her freshman year in 1956. She excelled at math in high school and was encouraged by her teachers to study engineering.
After graduation, Flagg headed to California to work at the Bureau of Sanitary Engineering. Later, she returned to S&T and became assistant director of admissions until 1998.
Share This Story
Spark a Memory?
Share your story! Fill out the form below to share your fondest memory or anecdote of S&T. If you'd prefer not typing, you can also share by phone at 833-646-3715 (833-Miner150).
Y2K debugger
As the clock ticked down to the year 2000, computer scientists around the world were fretting about the so-called “Y2K…
From banker to ‘Bachelor’
Aaron Buerge, a 1997 mechanical engineering graduate and president of the First National Bank in Springfield, Missouri, was the focus…
Inventing the future at ‘the idea factory’
In the 1950s, AT&T Bell Labs was a hotbed of innovation, a place where engineers and theorists came together to…
Martin Jischke on increasing diversity
Martin C. Jischke, who served as chancellor at UMR between 1986 and 1991, describes the importance...
Mary (Hilton) and Mike McEvilly
Mary (Hilton) and Mike McEvilly met in August 1978 at a Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity party. As students, the two…
Float like a butterfly
Few have shared the ring with Muhammad Ali or been praised by the New York Times as “one of America’s…