Lisa Metheney, Senior Civilian / Deputy District Engineer for Programs and Project Management for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Charleston District
Not everyone serving our country is in the military. Lisa Metheney is the senior civilian for the U.S Army Corps of Engineers, Charleston district.
Metheney attended Marshall University for her undergraduate and graduate degrees, where she studied economics before earning her MBA. It was during this time she formed a connection with the USACE. “One of my economics professors told me that they were looking for economist interns at the Corps of Engineers and told me to go down and apply. I applied, and, lo and behold, they hired me!”
As she finished her degree, Metheney worked 40 hours a week and took classes at night to keep her scholarship and to stay involved with the Corps of Engineers. Once she finished school, she began working full time for the USACE.
“My entire family is very big on public service. While I fell into this particular job, I always knew I’d be doing something in the public service realm,” she noted.
Although she has never been in the military, that never deterred her from working for the Army Corps of Engineers. Metheney explained that, “only 6% of the folks in the Corps of Engineers are active-duty personnel. All the rest of us are civilians. Having said that, the 37,000 of us — minus 6% — are very dedicated to serving the nation as well, just in a different way than the military does. But we do take the same oath of office that the military does.”
Through her work, Metheney has spearheaded projects for the good of our community, including the deepening of the Charleston harbor and the revitalization of the Crab Bank bird sanctuary. She explained that her responsibilities include, “making sure that projects are completed on time and on budget and at the highest level of quality possible.” As a leader of the Charleston district, she’s also responsible for looking out for her employees, both personally and professionally.
As a high-ranking woman in the Army Corps of Engineers, Metheney has had to face challenges along her way to her current position. While the number of women in the USACE has increased over the years, she explained that, “early on in my career, often I was the only female economist in a meeting, and I was certainly the youngest female.”
“My experience as a woman in the Corps of Engineers, by and large, has been very positive,” she added. “But I would be remiss if I did not point out that there were women that came before me that made the path easier. I was not the first female to work at the district, but I am the first female DPM or senior civilian to serve the district. I’m not the only female senior civilian across USACE, but I’m one of a small group of about 11 who serve in this position across our nation.”
When Metheney isn’t in the office, she’s making time for friends and family — and craft beer and books, of course. Metheney loves to travel, and for her birthday this year, she went on a three-week safari in Africa. “I’ve been to 17 different countries and 48 of the 50 states. Hopefully, I can mark off the last two this year,” she exclaimed.
“One of the best things about this job is that I’m working for a district that’s been here for 150 years,” she mused. “The Corps of Engineers is only two days younger than the Army — which is only a few days younger than the nation. Being able to work for an agency that’s been around that long and that’s had such an impact on the nation and its people is the part that means a lot to me.”
