Joan Robinson-Berry

Aerospace engineer Joan Robinson-Berry was born in 1959 in Los Angeles, California.
She graduated from Bassett High School in La Puente, California. She received her B.S. degree in 1982 from California State Polytechnic University, Pomona and her M.S. degree in 1991 from the University of California, Riverside.

Robinson-Berry started her career out as a design and manufacturing engineer in at General Dynamics. She then served as a program manager at McDonnell Douglas and then joined Boeing in 1986 where she held the roles of program manager of the MD-80/90 Twinjet Programs for Boeing Commercial Airplanes and small business liaison officer. In 2004, she moved to Boeing as director of engineering and technical workforce excellence before being named director of engineering processes, tools and skills within the space and communications unit. She later served as director of small/diverse business and strategic alliances for Boeing Defense, Space & Security (BDS), and director of Phantom Works Supplier Management for BDS. In 2014, Robinson-Berry was named vice president of the Shared Services Group Supplier Management. Two years later, she served as vice president and general manager of Boeing South Carolina. In 2018, she was promoted to vice president of engineering, maintenance and modifications and chief engineer for Boeing Global Services. She also served also as an Associate Technical Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics and as a Fellow of the African Scientific Institute. Robinson-Berry retired from Boeing in 2020.

In 2012, Robinson-Berry was inducted into the Career Communications Group/Alumni Hall of Fame; and, in 2015, she received the organization’s Women of Color Professional Achievement Award. In 2015, she was inducted into California Polytechnic Institute, Pomona's Alumni Hall of Fame. In 2016 and 2017, Robinson-Berry was recognized as one of Women’s Enterprise USA’s Top 100 Leaders in Supplier Diversity. She also received the 2017 Woman of the Year STEM award from the NAACP Long Beach Branch. She received honorary doctorate degrees from Charleston Southern University in 2017, Allen University in 2018 and California State Polytechnic University, Pomona in 2019. Robinson-Berry was also recognized in 2019 by Black Enterprise as one of the most Powerful Women in Corporate America. In 2021, Robinson-Berry was inducted into the Pioneer Hall of Fame of Women in Aviation International.

Joan Robinson-Berry was interviewed by The HistoryMakers on November 14, 2021.