Katherine holding the Purdue Hammer

Katherine comes from a Boilermaker family. Her mom, Jennifer Rumsey (BSME ’96), is a Purdue mechanical engineer and now CEO of Cummins; her dad has an electrical engineering degree; and her older sister Helen just graduated from Purdue mechanical engineering and is now at Williams International. However, that’s not what made Katherine choose engineering. She pursued it because she wants to make a positive impact on the world.

“I want to do something that’s innovative, that solves issues like climate change. There are a lot of companies that are focusing on creating more sustainable techniques and more sustainable forms of energy,” said Katherine. “I chose mechanical engineering because it doesn’t put me in a box, it provides me with so many opportunities.”

She’s also part of the Society of Women Engineers (SWE) which was founded in 1954 and is the oldest continuously charted SWE section in the country. It has over 600 members and is one of the largest student organizations at Purdue.

“As far as mechanical engineering, I want to show more women that even though it’s a male dominated field, it doesn’t mean we can’t do it. That’s something that’s been instilled in me growing up,” she said. “My dad became a stay at home dad while my mom continued her career and so having them as role models really showed me that just because I’m female doesn’t mean I can’t pursue my passions.”

Engineering isn’t the only thing that takes up Katherine’s time. She’s a full time athlete on both the cross country and the track and field team, meaning she’s training all year long.

“I exercise seven days a week. Of those days, two are weight training, one is cross training, two are faster runs, and one is a longer run, which is usually around 11 miles,” said Katherine. “I run about 45 miles a week.”

Katherine running during a race.

She typically runs the 5k and the 6k during cross country season races and the 3k and 5k for indoor and outdoor track.

Katherine says she’s gotten good at managing her time and since practice is in the mornings this year, she has the afternoons to get her engineering work done. There are around nine other women on the team who are studying engineering this year, a drastic increase from her freshman year. Having people on the team that understand what she’s going through has helped her tremendously.

Another milestone this year is the cross country team’s new coach; Rebecca Richtman joined the Purdue track and field and cross country program in the spring of 2024 as an assistant coach.

“She is my first ever female coach, so to have her as a role model has been really inspiring to me,” said Katherine.

This season has been great for Katherine, she’s bouncing back from two injuries last year, so this year has been all about rebuilding and focusing on slowly getting better and faster.

“My times aren’t necessarily reflective of where my fitness can be but it’s been really exciting to just see my performance keep getting better and I’m really excited to see what I can do in indoor track.”

This year marks 50 years of women’s sports at Purdue. In 1972, Title IX was a landmark decision that got signed into law, requiring publicly funded universities to provide an environment free of gender-based harassment and discrimination. As a result, Purdue introduced six women’s collegiate sports, Purdue Women’s Basketball, Golf, Tennis, Track and Field/Cross Country, Swimming & Diving and Volleyball.

Writer: Julia Davis, juliadavis@purdue.edu