Edith Mijares Ardiente, ME, PE, QEP VIA Woman of the Year 2015

Edith Mijares Ardiente is a retired Vice President, Environmental and Energy Affairs at Navistar International Corporation, one of the world’s largest commercial and military truck, school bus and engine manufacturers.  She was hired as Manager of Environmental Affairs in 1987, was promoted to Director in 1991 and was elected by the company’s Board to the Vice President position in May 2000 and served in this capacity with increasing responsibilities until her retirement in 2012.

Edith was the top environmental officer of the company and was responsible for creating the environmental department, establishing corporate environmental and energy policies and providing technical and regulatory assistance to all Navistar operations worldwide. During her tenure at Navistar, the company received over 125 awards for environmental and energy management excellence.

She was manager of environmental protection for Borg-Warner Corporation (1986-1987); was section chief of the hazardous waste permitting program and the air enforcement program at the United States Environmental Protection Agency, Region 5 (1979-1986); was senior chemical engineer at Sargent and Lundy Engineers (1973-1979); and was technical secretary at Commercial Testing and Engineering (1970-1973).  Prior to coming to the United States in 1970, she was an engineering instructor at the University of San Agustin in the Philippines.

Edith received her B.S. in Chemical Engineering, valedictorian, magna cum laude, from the University of San Agustin in the Philippines in 1966.  She was a full university academic scholar and a Philippine National Science Development Board scholar.  She received her M.S. in Environmental Engineering (MSEE) from Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois in 1982.  She is a registered professional engineer (PE) in Illinois and a qualified environmental professional (QEP).

In 2005, Edith served as President of the International Air and Waste Management Association (AWMA), the first Asian and the second woman to hold this position at the 100-year old association, which operates in over 65 countries and has over 4000 members.  On June 23, 2016, AWMA is going to confer on her the Honorary Membership Award for “having attained eminence in some field related to the mission and objectives of the Association and for having  rendered valuable service to the Association”.  AWMA had previously recognized her with an outstanding leadership award in 2013 and elected her Fellow in 1997.

She was the first woman president of the Philippine Engineers and Scientists Organization (1986-1987) and was founding president of the University of San Agustin Alumni Association Midwest Chapter (1984).  She served as Kapitan (President) of the Samahan Sa Baryo in 2000 and is currently one of the officers of the Tamaraw Golf Club.  From 1994 to 2004, she served as a member of the Board of Overseers of the Illinois Institute of Technology’s Stuart School of Business and was Chair of Stuart’s Masters in Environmental Management Program.  In 1993, she served as TOKTEN (Transfer of Knowledge Through Expatriate Nationals) consultant to the Philippines under the United Nations Development Program.  She has lectured, written and presented papers on environmental management in several countries, including the United States, Canada, Mexico, Philippines, South Korea, Japan, China and Brazil.

In 2006, she received the prestigious PAMANA NG PILIPINO professional excellence award from President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo of the Philippines.  Some of her other awards include:  Filipino Women’s Network as one of the “100 Most Influential Filipino Women in the U.S.”, Asian American Hall of Fame (2006), Philippine Chamber of Commerce Business Executive of the Year (2005), University of San Agustin’s one of “100 Outstanding Augustinians of the Century” (2004) and the first Filipino American Hall of Fame in Engineering (1994).  She was appointed by the late Francis Cardinal George to serve in the Archdiocesan Pastoral Council (2007-2009) of the Archdiocese of Chicago.

Edith lives in Orland Park, Illinois with her husband, Nestor Pacificar Ardiente, a retired mechanical engineer and a Hall of Fame Awardee in Engineering in 1997.  They have two grown children, Daniel, a registered respiratory therapist and Kathy, a registered nurse, who is married to Crispin Llanes Cruz, an engineer/computer programmer.   Edith and Nestor have two wonderful grandchildren, Nara Grace and Joaquin Florencio.  They serve as lectors and Eucharistic ministers at their parish, are active in many community organizations and enjoy golf in the U.S. and in the Philippines.One of their major goals is to visit at least 100 countries of the world in their lifetime.  They are very close to this goal, with Brunei as their 95th country, which they visited in January 2016.  As Catholics, they treasured their pilgrimages to the Holy Land, Rome, Fatima, Lourdes, Medjugorje, Santo Nino Shrine in Cebu and many other holy sites.  As engineers, they marveled at the genius of the builders of the Great Wall of China, Taj Mahal of India, Machu Picchu of Peru, the Banaue Rice Terraces of the Philippines, the Great Pyramids of Egypt, the temples of Greece and Rome and of course thank the builders of airplanes, cruise ships and bancas!  As environmentalists and lovers of nature, they thank God for the wonders of the underground river of Palawan, the incomparable fauna and flora of the Galapagos islands, the “Old Faithful” geyser of the Yosemite Park, the spectacular rock formations of Cappadocia, Turkey, the big five (buffalo, rhino, elephant, lion and leopard) animals of Africa, Niagara Falls and many others.  Edith’s and Nestor’s favorite quote is one which they borrowed from an anonymous traveler, as follows: “Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the places and moments that take our breath away!”