engineering

Marilyn Jorgenson Reece

Marilyn Jorgenson Reece is a engineering topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Marilyn Jorgenson Reece rather than just read about it. In short: Marilyn Jorgenson Reece (September 8, 1926 – May 15, 2004) was an American civil engineer, and the first woman to be licensed as a civil engineer by the state of California. She designed an innovative interchange in the 1960s that handled fast moving traffic in Los Angeles.

Key takeaways

Marilyn Jorgenson Reece belongs to engineering; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Marilyn Jorgenson Reece to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Marilyn Jorgenson Reece from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Marilyn Jorgenson Reece (September 8, 1926 – May 15, 2004) was an American civil engineer, and the first woman to be licensed as a civil engineer by the state of California. She designed an innovative interchange in the 1960s that handled fast moving traffic in Los Angeles. The interchange is now named after her.

Early life Marilyn Jorgensen was born on September 8, 1926, in Kenmare, North Dakota, to Virgil and Marion Jorgenson. She was of Danish descent.

Education She attended Shakopee High School in Minnesota, graduating in the class of 1944 as the salutatorian. She received a degree in civil engineering from the University of Minnesota in 1948. Following graduation, she moved to California, and began working for the State Division of Highways. In 1954 she became the first woman to be a registered civil engineer in the state of California.

Career Among the many many projects that she supervised, her most celebrated work is the iconic interchange between the 10 and the 405 freeways in Los Angeles, California. This interchange was designed to accommodate traffic moving at high speeds, and represented the forefront of traffic engineering in its day, opening in 1964. For this work she was awarded the Governor's Design Excellence Award from Pat Brown, and in 2008, this interchange was named in her honor.

Personal life She was married to Alvin Reece, who also worked as a civil engineer for Caltrans. They had two daughters, Kirsten Reece Stahl (who became a civil engineer) and Anne Reece Bartolotti (who became an Information Technology Project Manager). Alvin died in 2015 and Kirsten died unexpectedly in 2018. She died on May 15, 2004, in Hacienda Heights, California.

References

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Marilyn Jorgenson Reece

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Marilyn Jorgenson Reece claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In engineering, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Marilyn Jorgenson Reece before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Marilyn Jorgenson Reece ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Marilyn Jorgenson Reece

In research: Marilyn Jorgenson Reece appears in engineering research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Marilyn Jorgenson Reece in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Marilyn Jorgenson Reece is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1926 births, 2004 deaths, 20th-century American engineers, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Marilyn Jorgenson Reece outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Marilyn Jorgenson Reece in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Marilyn Jorgenson Reece means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Marilyn Jorgenson Reece out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Marilyn Jorgenson Reece in simple terms?

Why does Marilyn Jorgenson Reece matter?

Because it connects several engineering ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Marilyn Jorgenson Reece?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Marilyn Jorgenson Reece.