Christine Haggerty-Kipp
Breaking Ground
Christine Haggerty-Kipp (HCB, ’20) puts on steel-toe boots and a hard hat before heading out to the construction site outside her office at Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. As deputy lead construction planner, she and her team manage the project schedule for Y-12’s new uranium processing facility. It’s a massive venture with many subcontractors and timetables to juggle.
“I do a lot of coordinating among many people,” Haggerty-Kipp says. Most of her work happens at a computer or on the phone, but what she loves most is seeing visible progress. “Watching the site inch closer to completion every day is super exciting.”
After growing up in Maryland, Haggerty-Kipp came to UT when her dad took a construction job in the area. She quickly fell in love with the campus and found her fit as a business administration major with a concentration in information management and a minor in entrepreneurship. While a student, she landed a field engineer internship with Bechtel Corporation, then a second internship in project controls engineering.
Although she had family in the industry, Haggerty-Kipp says she had no idea how many business roles existed in construction. “From the outside, it looks like everyone is an engineer or came up through a craft, but that’s not the case,” she says. The internships opened her eyes to new possibilities. “I could see myself continuing to do this because I enjoyed what I was doing and where I was working.”
Only a few weeks after graduation, Haggerty-Kipp joined Bechtel full-time as a field cost engineer. “Being a woman in construction can be very intimidating, especially at 22,” she says. “I was the only woman in most meetings.” She soon found herself surrounded by managers and senior counterparts who wanted her—and the project—to succeed. “You realize no one is looking at you differently. You’re part of the team.”
After two years working on a company project in Waynesboro, Georgia, she relocated to Y-12 in Oak Ridge. She now has the confidence to make decisions based on the knowledge she’s gained through experience. “I really enjoy the environment and culture that construction fosters,” she says. “I love getting to work with people from many different backgrounds.”
With her move back to East Tennessee, Haggerty-Kipp now serves on Haslam’s Young Alumni Board and speaks to classes about her career to explain the many options available to business majors. “I love mentoring students and getting to tell them about life after graduation,” she says. “It’s great to be able to stay involved.”
