Iris Sesko

Iris Sesko of Hixson recently added another feather to her cap.

Used to being a “first” or “only” in her field, the retired surveyor and engineer was honored recently by the Tennessee Association of Professional Surveyors with the organization’s Award for Lifetime Achievement.

Mrs. Sesko, 72, one of only three women in the association, was the first woman in Tennessee to register as a professional surveyor and, when she retired in 1998, the only woman in Tennessee licensed as a professional surveyor and professional engineer.

“I do feel I may have broken some ground for women who wanted to pursue an occupation like this,” she said.

The Chattanooga State Technical Community College and University of Tennessee at Chattanooga graduate also was the 1998 Chattanooga Engineer of the Year, is the first CSTCC graduate to endow a scholarship, is a charter member of the Continuing Education Review Committee for the Tennessee Board of Examiners for Surveyors and is a charter member of St. Jude Catholic Church.

In addition, Mrs. Sesko co-founded Chattmap, a computer mapping seminar, co-founded the Southeastern Chapter of the Tennessee Association of Professional Surveyors and has held all elective offices in the Southeastern Chapter of TAPS, all elective offices in the Greater Chattanooga Ceramic Association and all elective offices in the Chattanooga Quilt Guild.