When Jean Sweeney decided to pursue a college degree in chemical engineering, her high school counselor told her that only men get engineering degrees. So she became even more assured of her choice.

A few years later, Jean was one of only eight women in the class of 1977 who graduated with a degree in engineering from Montana State University. At that time, she was one of a few hundred women in the entire country who earned a bachelor’s degree in engineering.

After graduation, Jean took a job at 3M as a product development engineer and quickly began to move her way up into various manufacturing management positions. The trailblazing continued, and she eventually became the company’s Vice President of Environment, Health, Safety and Sustainability.

In March, 3M named Jean Chief Sustainability Officer.

A 2011 study by the American Society for Engineering Education found women accounted for only 18 percent of undergraduate students in engineering. Jean thinks the cultural messaging that many young girls so often hear, and sadly believe, is that engineering is too difficult. When she was mentoring a high school student who was at the top of her class, Jean asked why she wasn’t considering an engineering degree.

“She told me that engineering is too hard,” says Jean. “And I said, ‘but you’re one of the top students in your entire class, and you’ve gotten nothing but A’s in science and math. Engineering won’t be too hard for you.’ It’s clear our messaging to girls needs to change.”

Jean believes mentoring and having female role models in engineering can play a huge role in changing that perception. So, in partnership with her mother, Vonnie, Jean funds a scholarship at her alma mater, Montana State University, in her father’s name. It is called the Bennington Scholarship for Women in Engineering. Each year, they offer eight to 12 scholarships in engineering for female sophomores, juniors and seniors with a 3.0 or higher GPA. “If they get through the first year, this scholarship is an incentive to stay,” she says.

MSU Dean of Engineering Brett Gunnink says students aspire to be Bennington Scholars. The young women who receive the scholarships enjoy a perk that’s particularly unique in the scholarship realm: The donor – Jean – travels to MSU four times a year to mentor each of the recipients in person.

“Mentoring is a way for me to pay it forward,” she says. “I want to do what I can to encourage more women to feel confident and make the choice to enter into the engineering field.”

Throughout her 39-year tenure at 3M, Jean has a held a diverse array of positions, from product development, manufacturing management and business management, to running operations in 3M Australia and serving as managing director of 3M Taiwan. Now, as 3M’s Chief Sustainability Officer, she has the opportunity to build upon the company’s long history and leadership in the protecting the environment. That history is rooted in a program forty-year-old program called Pollution Prevention Pays, or 3P, which has prevented more than 2.1 million tons of pollutants.

“We bring a lot of credibility to the sustainability arena because of our 40 years of 3P,” Jean says. “At 3M, we look at sustainability in terms of shared global needs and the future of our business. We continue to bring sustainability forward as a whole company by building sustainability thinking into all of our brands – by infusing sustainability into the character of the 3M brand.”

Today, 3M applies technological expertise to help solve some of the evolving global challenges that serve as barriers to the improvement of every life on the planet. As a science-based company, 3M continues to drive sustainability in its own operations and provide the products and technologies that help its customers decrease their environmental footprints. It’s something 3M Chairman of the Board, President and CEO Inge Thulin says is a top priority for the company.