By Allison Duncan
As a naval officer, Patricia Ann Cerchio ’79 sometimes received requests from the Pentagon to trim certain portions of the $1.5 billion budget she managed for the Tomahawk Missile Project. Cerchio then asked her engineering colleagues, “What would happen if they cut 15% from this line item?” She remembered their looks of alarm and protests that the Pentagon could not do that.
“Actually, they can! Unless we can justify why we need this,” she said, laughing. “If I could get them to explain it to me, then I would write it up.” Cerchio’s degree in math and physics, coupled with Immaculata’s liberal arts education, enabled her to combine technical expertise with strong communication skills to “translate” for the engineers, conveying the importance of their program requirements to the Pentagon.
In recognition of her multidisciplinary skills and her groundbreaking leadership in the Navy, Cerchio is this year’s recipient of the Amethyst Award, which honors alumni for their outstanding contribution to or achievement in a church, community or professional activity.
“When speaking to those who say they want to go into engineering or some other technical field, I tell them to take every course that makes them write. This usually provokes a look of horror,” Cerchio said, adding that she would have felt the same way if she had been given that advice as a young person. Still, she reminds people that they need to be able to express themselves effectively in writing. “This is an extremely valuable skill in technical fields, because so few possess it,” she said.
Early in her career, Cerchio also learned the value of expressing herself through oral presentations. During her years at Immaculata, all math majors were required to give presentations, so Cerchio developed her public speaking skills. “It was one of the most useful things,” she said. Not long into her career, she had to give briefings at the Pentagon to high-ranking officials, including the head of the U.S. Navy, the secretary of the Navy, and other senior military and civilian leaders. “I was maybe 27,” Cerchio said. “I didn’t always feel confident, but I never got flustered.”
When she talks to young people who are choosing colleges, she emphasizes the value of a liberal arts education. “The liberal arts teach you how to think, to look at things from more than one perspective. Most importantly, they teach you how to communicate in one-on-one situations, such as at work with a superior or to someone you just met at a social event.” She added, “Even when I was in engineering jobs in the Navy, I did not use the math and physics part of my education all that much. But I used the liberal arts part daily.”
Building on her liberal arts education from Immaculata, Cerchio earned multiple master’s degrees while serving in the Navy, including one in management with an emphasis on financial management. With her unique combination of business and technical skills, she progressed in her career and gained experience in satellite communications engineering, program management, research and development, acquisition and base management, including managing the closure of a command.
Because of her wide-ranging experience, Cerchio was promoted to commander in 1995 and hand-selected to take charge of the Naval Undersea Warfare Center (NUWC) Detachment in New London, Connecticut, which included a submarine research laboratory with over 1,200 government personnel and 2,000 contractors, along with the base it was on. The day she took over was 50 years to the week that her mother joined the Navy as a World War II WAVES (Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service).
It would still be another 15 years before the Navy would allow women to serve on submarines. Cerchio recently learned that that job made her the U.S. Navy’s first woman in charge of a submarine-centric command. While few of the men Cerchio served with had worked with women before, she says they always treated her with respect.
After more than 20 years in the Navy, Cerchio retired and sometimes leads workshops to help veterans and others navigate life transitions and pursue their goals. Recently, she was asked to assist in “spreading the word” about stellate ganglion block (SGB), a little-known but highly effective treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder. Thanks to a grant and nonprofit fundraising, both currently serving military and veterans living in Delaware or Pennsylvania can receive SGB at no cost. Unfortunately, very few know about this program.
Even in “retirement,” Cerchio is making effective use of her liberal arts education.
The Amethyst Award honors alumni in recognition of their outstanding contribution to or achievement in a church, community or professional activity.
