Mica Endsley is an

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the l ...

and a former

Chief Scientist of the United States Air Force The Chief Scientist of the Air Force is the most senior science & technology representative in the United States Department of the Air Force. The current Chief Scientist of the United States Air Force is Victoria Coleman, sworn in on April 6, 2021 ...

. The position of the Chief Scientist was created over 60 years ago to provide independent scientific advice to the

Secretary of the Air Force A secretary, administrative professional, administrative assistant, executive assistant, administrative officer, administrative support specialist, clerk, military assistant, management assistant, office secretary, or personal assistant is a w ...

and the Chief of Staff of the Air Force, as well as to its senior leadership. In this role, she worked with the top scientists and engineers within the Air Force as well as in

academia An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary education, secondary or tertiary education, tertiary higher education, higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membershi ...

industry Industry may refer to: Economics * Industry (economics), a generally categorized branch of economic activity * Industry (manufacturing), a specific branch of economic activity, typically in factories with machinery * The wider industrial sector ...

, and the other armed services to ensure that the Air Force's research and development efforts remain relevant and effective. Additionally, as the Chief Scientist she responded to any tasking from the Secretary of the Air Force and the Air Force Chief of Staff on issues or opportunities of a scientific and technical nature that may arise. Endsley was the first human factors engineer and the first female to serve as Chief Scientist.

Early life and education

Endsley was born in

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

and grew up in

Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ( ; nv, Hoozdo; es, Fénix or , yuf-x-wal, Banyà:nyuwá) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Arizona#List of cities and towns, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona, with 1 ...

, and

Houston, Texas Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

, where she attended

Spring Woods High School Spring Woods High School is a secondary school in Spring Branch, Houston, Texas, United States. The school, serving grades 9 through 12, is operated by Spring Branch Independent School District. Spring Woods serves several neighborhoods, inclu ...

. In 1982, Endsley graduated

cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sou ...

from

Texas Tech University Texas Tech University (Texas Tech, Tech, or TTU) is a public research university in Lubbock, Texas. Established on , and called Texas Technological College until 1969, it is the main institution of the five-institution Texas Tech University Sys ...

Lubbock, Texas Lubbock ( ) is the 10th-most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and the seat of government of Lubbock County. With a population of 260,993 in 2021, the city is also the 85th-most populous in the United States. The city is in the northw ...

with Bachelor of Science degree in

Industrial Engineering Industrial engineering is an engineering profession that is concerned with the optimization of complex process (engineering), processes, systems, or organizations by developing, improving and implementing integrated systems of people, money, kno ...

. In 1985, she earned a Master of Science degree in industrial engineering from

Purdue University Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donated land and money ...

and earned a Doctor of Philosophy in industrial and systems engineering from the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...

in 1990.

Career

From 1997 to 2013, Endsley served as president and CEO of SA Technologies in Marietta, Georgia, a cognitive engineering firm specializing in the development of operator interfaces for advanced systems, including the next generation of systems for aviation, air traffic control, medical, power, oil & gas, and military operations. Prior to forming SA Technologies, she was a visiting associate professor at MIT in the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics and associate professor of industrial engineering at Texas Tech University. Endsley has authored over 200 scientific articles and reports on

situation awareness Situational awareness or situation awareness (SA) is the perception of environmental elements and events with respect to time or space, the comprehension of their meaning, and the projection of their future status. An alternative definition is tha ...

, decision making and automation and is recognized internationally for her pioneering work in the design, development and evaluation of systems to support human situation awareness and decision-making, based on her model of situation awareness. This human-centered design approach has been found to be critical to successfully integrating people with advanced technologies and automation in a wide variety of domains. In addition, Endsley has developed training programs for enhancing situation awareness among individuals and teams. She is co-author of two books, ''Analysis and Measurement of Situation Awareness'' and ''Designing for Situation Awareness''. She is Past-President of the

Human Factors and Ergonomics Society The Human Factors and Ergonomics Society (HFES) is an interdisciplinary nonprofit professional organization, headquartered in Washington, D.C., United States, covering the fields of human factors and ergonomics. Founded in 1957, HFES claims 4500 m ...

where she is a fellow, was co-founder of the Cognitive Engineering and Decision Making Technical Group of HFES, and has previously served on its Executive Council. Endsley has received numerous awards for teaching and research, is a Certified Professional Ergonomist and a Registered Professional Engineer. She is the founder and former Editor-in-Chief of the '' Journal of Cognitive Engineering and Decision Making'' and serves on the editorial board for three major journals. Endsley received the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Jack Kraft Innovator Award in 2003 for her work in situation awareness.

Selected publications

* Endsley, M. R. (1995). Toward a theory of situation awareness in dynamic systems. Human Factors, 37(1), 32-64. * Endsley, M. R. (1995). Measurement of situation awareness in dynamic systems. Human Factors, 37(1), 65-84. * Endsley, M. R., & Garland, D. J. (Eds.). (2000). Situation awareness analysis and measurement. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum. * Endsley, M. R., & Jones, W. M. (2001). A model of inter- and intrateam situation awareness: Implications for design, training and measurement. In M. McNeese, E. Salas & M. Endsley (Eds.), New trends in cooperative activities: Understanding system dynamics in complex environments (pp. 46–67). Santa Monica, CA: Human Factors and Ergonomics Society. * Endsley, M. R. (2006). Expertise and Situation Awareness. In K. A. Ericsson, N. Charness, P. J. Feltovich & R. R. Hoffman (Eds.), The Cambridge Handbook of Expertise and Expert Performance (pp. 633–651). New York: Cambridge University Press. * Endsley, M. R., & Jones, D. G. (2012). Designing for situation awareness: An approach to human-centered design (2nd ed.). London: Taylor & Francis.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Endsley, Mica Chief Scientists of the United States Air Force Living people Texas Tech University alumni Purdue University College of Engineering alumni USC Viterbi School of Engineering alumni Year of birth missing (living people) Engineers from California American women engineers American women chief executives Academic journal editors Texas Tech University faculty 21st-century women engineers American women academics 21st-century American women