As a middle schooler growing up in New Orleans, Regina Davis didn’t know much about STEM careers. But during a summer enrichment program mandated by her mom, the seeds of a future in engineering took root.
“I really didn’t know what engineering was, but I was good at science and math,” Davis jokes. “Even when I got to college years later, I still wasn’t exactly sure what engineers did.”
That would change. Davis, 47, earned a degree in chemical engineering from Louisiana Tech University in 1998 and went to work for ExxonMobil in Chalmette in 1999. Twenty-four years, an MBA and several postings with the company later, Davis was named manager of ExxonMobil Baton Rouge Refinery last August. She’s the first Black woman to lead the 2,800-employee site, one of the region’s most influential employers.
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The job allowed Davis, a married mother of four, to return to the Bayou State after working for ExxonMobil in Fairfax, Virginia; Beaumont, Texas; and Edmonton, Alberta, where she served as head of the company’s Strathcona Refinery.
“I’m happy to be back home in Louisiana,” she says. “The unique relationship that the plant has with the community is something I’ve never seen before. Everyone knows someone who has worked here.”
One of Davis’ key objectives is to help the refinery propel a new $250 million “innovation suite,” which focuses on renewable energy and production efficiency. Davis says she’s also eager to strengthen ExxonMobil’s workforce development relationships with higher education institutions, especially its neighbor, Southern University.
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Davis has a passion for mentoring young professionals, and says mentors helped her aim beyond her humble beginnings. She was the first in her family to attend college and completed her degree as a single mom.
Today, she continues to strive for personal balance. Despite a tough daily schedule, she’s adamant about driving her youngest daughter Anya, 14, to school every morning. She likes to cook. And two years ago, she picked up playing the piano for the first time.
“According to my piano teacher, I approach playing like an engineer,” Davis laughs. “I want it to be technically, exactly right.”