Seattle Reign FC Legend: Dr. Cecilia Aragon – Author, Pilot, Professor

The Legends Campaign, a partnership between Seattle Reign FC and Starbucks, honors women for their extraordinary contributions to our community in the Pacific Northwest and beyond. Prior to Seattle Reign FC’s match against Utah Royals FC, the club recognized Dr. Cecilia Aragon, an award-winning author, airshow pilot and professor at the University of Washington.

From a young age, Cecilia had lofty aspirations in life. As a kindergartener, she told her teacher that she wanted to be an astronaut and was met with a quick retort: “Girls can’t be astronauts.”

To a five-year-old, that comment could have been discouraging. But Cecilia knew it was untrue - because she had the support of her family, namely her parents, both immigrants to the United States, to encourage her.

"If it hadn't been for the support of my parents, my father especially, I don't think I ever would have achieved anything because the expectations would have been set for me not to do very much. But my father really encouraged me in math and science, and that put me on the path I’m on now,” she shared.

Cecilia’s career has been rather complex and multi-faceted, centered around the flight and science realm. Everything really began to blossom after she graduated from college and joined the workforce. One of her colleagues asked if she wanted to go for a ride in a small airplane.

“Of course, I said ‘no’ at first. I was too scared. But then I remember having this epiphany, right?”

“I had been letting my fears win and not doing things because I was too scared. I decided just that one time, I would take that leap and accept the ride. And it turned out I really loved flying. It brought back a lot of childhood dreams that I had always had. I always wanted to dance in the sky and flying in a small airplane gave me the opportunity.”

In overcoming her fear of heights and flying, Cecilia was able to overcome several other obstacles she was facing in her life.

“It changed my world. I was able to go back and get my Ph.D. and achieve my dream job of being a professor, which I thought I'd never be good enough to do.”

From 1990 to 1994, she was a pilot of the United States Unlimited Aerobatic Team, before becoming a flight instructor and educator. Through all facets of her career, she remained rooted in her love for math, science and helping others achieve their goals.

Now, as a professor, she has written over 150 peer-reviewed articles, in addition to several books, patents and software. She was the first Latina to earn the rank of full professor in the College of Engineering at the University of Washington in its 100-year history and continues to be on the forefront of teaching the next generation.

Throughout her career, she has won many awards, including the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers, the highest honor bestowed by the U.S. government on outstanding scientists and engineers beginning their independent careers.

“I've found that it only takes one voice of someone who believes in you to really overcome even a chorus of voices telling you you're nothing. For me, it was my dad, and that's why I became a teacher and a professor, because I really wanted to be that one voice for other people.”

As a professor, she strives to present complex subjects in a way that everyone can understand and finds great joy in enabling her students to go on to have amazing careers.

“I overcame fear, really tremendous fear. I was afraid of ladders and heights, and I overcame it by learning how to fly. What I found was that by overcoming that fear, by doing the thing I was most afraid of, it opened many doors for me in my life.”

She continued, "Now, I give a lot of talks specifically to young people and underrepresented groups in STEM to try to encourage people to overcome their own fears and to reach for whatever goals or dreams they have because it was true, it was my own fears that were stopping me, not anything else. Once I learned to overcome the barriers within me, the external barriers were still there, but I was able to fight them off and achieve a great career.”