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President, BWXT Nuclear Operations Group Inc., Lynchburg
President, BWXT Nuclear Operations Group Inc., Lynchburg
Virginia Business// January 30, 2023//
Smoot is a unicorn — a Black woman overseeing 4,700 employees in the highly technical field of manufacturing components for nuclear reactors. Named last summer as head of the Lynchburg-based federal contractor’s nuclear division, Smoot spent 30 years as a civilian employee of the U.S. Navy, ultimately serving as executive director for logistics, maintenance and industrial operations for the Naval Sea Systems Command. She also earned degrees in electrical engineering and engineering management from Virginia Tech and Old Dominion University.
She has learned a lot about leadership and earning trust, she says. “You can charge the hill, but if no one is following, what is the point?” Smoot asks. Her leadership was put to a tragic test in 2013 when a gunman went on a rampage at the Washington Navy Yard. Two of her employees were among the 12 people killed. “I had to pull on every piece of my training,” she says of that horrific time. “It was a defining moment for me as a leader.”
Making strides: Virginia Business 2023 Black Leaders Award winners
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