{"id":297,"date":"2011-06-29T17:59:13","date_gmt":"2011-06-29T17:59:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/?p=297"},"modified":"2022-03-29T13:55:09","modified_gmt":"2022-03-29T13:55:09","slug":"phillip-and-margaret-forsythe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/?p=297","title":{"rendered":"5 Minutes With … Phillip and Margaret Forsythe"},"content":{"rendered":"

In March 1981, Margaret Long was a senior in mechanical engineering \u2013 in fact, the only female in the major to graduate that quarter. Phillip Forsythe was also a senior mechanical student. Their paths crossed in January of that year and have remained that way, ultimately leading to the creation of Forsythe and Long Engineering, a widely diversified firm in Florence, Ala. We caught up with them at a recent meeting
\nof the Auburn Alumni Engineering Council on which Margaret serves.<\/em><\/p>\n

BS: Why did you attend Auburn? And why engineering? <\/strong><\/p>\n

Phillip:<\/strong> I grew up on a farm in northwest Alabama, and my dad was a big influence on me going to college. Actually, I am the first person in my family to graduate from college. And the thing is, we were all Alabama fans! I loved to tinker with things as a kid, so engineering was the thing for me, and I wanted to go to the best engineering school in the state, so I came to Auburn. And since then, I have managed to convert the family to Auburn fans.<\/p>\n

Margaret:<\/strong> My father was a plant manager for Alabama Power Company and was always gearing me toward engineering. He believed it was a great career for women. I worked for Alabama Power in the summers and people there consistently encouraged me to pursue engineering. I\u2019ll never forget Oliver Kingsley, also an Auburn alum, telling me to make sure I got my degree. He said, \u201cPeople can take a lot of things away from you, but no one can take away your Auburn engineering degree.\u201d<\/p>\n

BS: You met as engineering students here. Tell me how that happened. <\/strong><\/p>\n

Margaret:<\/strong> We met before class one day \u2013 we only had two classes together \u2013 and we became friends and started studying together. Even though he had a girlfriend at the time, I knew immediately that we would get married one day. Plus, he went to school, co-oped and worked at a grocery store and Burger King \u2013 I saw in him a strong work ethic and traits that I admired . . . traits that I could someday use in my business.<\/p>\n

BS: Your business? <\/strong><\/p>\n

Margaret:<\/strong><\/strong> Well, yes. When I was 15, I worked at a pharmacy in Demopolis, west of Montgomery. I got the bug for owning my own business and that was always my plan. I used to read the Wall Street Journal and dream of one day establishing my own business.<\/p>\n

BS: Phillip, were you aware of this business dream? <\/strong><\/p>\n

Phillip:<\/strong> Oh yes, she told me about it . . . everyday. She was determined to make it happen.<\/p>\n

BS: So, the company was born when? <\/strong><\/p>\n

Margaret:<\/strong> After graduation, we both went to work for the Tennessee Valley Authority, and then I went on to Reynolds Metal Company. After a number of years and the birth of our second daughter, I didn\u2019t want to be away from the children as much as I was. So, I decided to start a company and work on contract with Reynolds.<\/p>\n

Phillip:<\/strong> I was still with TVA and traveling a great deal. I came home one day and saw it on her face \u2013 we were about to make a change.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

BS: Today, you work together at Forsythe and Long Engineering. How does that work? <\/strong><\/p>\n

Margaret:<\/strong> Well, we quit being tennis partners.<\/p>\n

Phillip:<\/strong> It takes effort; it is not for the average couple. Our personalities are so different, it works well actually. We have developed a few spin-off companies and work with everything from fertilizer, to automotive and aluminum plants, to paper mills and mining. We tag team well.<\/p>\n

Margaret:<\/strong> We are so busy and there is so much to do. Phillip does a lot of the interacting with clients and I do a lot of the office work. We also have about 40 employees. We both understand the demands of owning a business.<\/p>\n

BS: OK, two engineers at the office and two engineers at home. Is that a challenge? <\/strong><\/p>\n

Phillip:<\/strong> We are both detail-oriented. We get that about each other. And we balance each other.<\/p>\n

Margaret:<\/strong> We complement each other very well, and we have similar interests. For Phillip, things have to be done right, not just OK. I can appreciate that.<\/p>\n

BS: Besides engineering fundamentals, what is one thing you learned at Auburn that has impacted your professional life?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Margaret:<\/strong> That the details are important. In my chem labs and ME labs, details were very important to the descriptions of our experiments and our lab reports. That is what we want people to hire us for \u2013 our attention to detail.<\/p>\n

Phillip:<\/strong> To have an open mind and be creative. This is so important to so much of what we do. I had a colleague who had a professor that asked the class, \u201cWhat are you going to do to
\nchange or impact the world?\u201d That has really stuck with me, and it is one of our goals. What are we going to do professionally to impact the food we grow, the cars we drive, the metals we use?<\/p>\n

BS: What Auburn Engineering experiences have changed you? <\/strong><\/p>\n

Margaret:<\/strong> My professors were very encouraging to me as a woman \u2013 especially in mechanical engineering. There were not many of us. Usually, there were two or three in a class and we all sat in the front row. I got this advice early on from one of my ME professors, \u201cIt is not good enough for you to do just as well as the men, you must do more.\u201d They always made me believe that I could.<\/p>\n

Phillip:<\/strong> There were people at Auburn who encouraged us, and dozens who have mentored us during the course of our careers. I look back and see the influence they had on us. We want to do the same thing for new engineers and professionals, so we try to use our company to hire young people and give them experience.<\/p>\n

BS: Why have you chosen to be involved with Auburn Engineering and support the college financially? <\/strong><\/p>\n

Phillip:<\/strong> A lot of good people have mentored us in our careers and it has made a difference in our lives. Auburn changed our perspective on what and how much we could accomplish. It is important to us to see that current and future generations of students have equal or better opportunities than we did.<\/p>\n

Margaret:<\/strong> Neither of our parents had the opportunity to attend college. Auburn did a great job of preparing us for our careers, and Phillip and I asked, “How can we give back the gift that was given to us?” Even though we give back to Auburn, it continues
\nto give back to us. It is an honor for us.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In March 1981, Margaret Long was a senior in mechanical engineering \u2013 in fact, the only female in the major to graduate that quarter. Phillip Forsythe was also a senior mechanical student. Their paths crossed in January of that year and have remained that way, ultimately leading to the creation […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[9],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n5 Minutes With ... Phillip and Margaret Forsythe » Auburn Engineer<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/?p=297\" \/>\n<link rel=\"next\" href=\"http:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/?p=297&page=2\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"5 Minutes With ... Phillip and Margaret Forsythe » Auburn Engineer\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In March 1981, Margaret Long was a senior in mechanical engineering \u2013 in fact, the only female in the major to graduate that quarter. Phillip Forsythe was also a senior mechanical student. Their paths crossed in January of that year and have remained that way, ultimately leading to the creation […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"http:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/?p=297\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Auburn Engineer\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2011-06-29T17:59:13+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-03-29T13:55:09+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Beth Smith\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Beth Smith\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/?p=297\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/?p=297\",\"name\":\"5 Minutes With ... Phillip and Margaret Forsythe » Auburn Engineer\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2011-06-29T17:59:13+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-03-29T13:55:09+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/#\/schema\/person\/e387673e28a10acf12334f0fbb691d4d\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"http:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/?p=297\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/\",\"name\":\"Auburn Engineer\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/#\/schema\/person\/e387673e28a10acf12334f0fbb691d4d\",\"name\":\"Beth Smith\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/0.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3a2e943ce9fc90f703a1caddb6c77fc0?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"http:\/\/0.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3a2e943ce9fc90f703a1caddb6c77fc0?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Beth Smith\"},\"url\":\"http:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/?author=6\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"5 Minutes With ... Phillip and Margaret Forsythe » Auburn Engineer","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"http:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/?p=297","next":"http:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/?p=297&page=2","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"5 Minutes With ... Phillip and Margaret Forsythe » Auburn Engineer","og_description":"In March 1981, Margaret Long was a senior in mechanical engineering \u2013 in fact, the only female in the major to graduate that quarter. Phillip Forsythe was also a senior mechanical student. Their paths crossed in January of that year and have remained that way, ultimately leading to the creation […]","og_url":"http:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/?p=297","og_site_name":"Auburn Engineer","article_published_time":"2011-06-29T17:59:13+00:00","article_modified_time":"2022-03-29T13:55:09+00:00","author":"Beth Smith","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Beth Smith","Est. reading time":"6 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"http:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/?p=297","url":"http:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/?p=297","name":"5 Minutes With ... Phillip and Margaret Forsythe » Auburn Engineer","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/#website"},"datePublished":"2011-06-29T17:59:13+00:00","dateModified":"2022-03-29T13:55:09+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/#\/schema\/person\/e387673e28a10acf12334f0fbb691d4d"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["http:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/?p=297"]}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/#website","url":"https:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/","name":"Auburn Engineer","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/#\/schema\/person\/e387673e28a10acf12334f0fbb691d4d","name":"Beth Smith","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"http:\/\/0.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3a2e943ce9fc90f703a1caddb6c77fc0?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"http:\/\/0.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3a2e943ce9fc90f703a1caddb6c77fc0?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Beth Smith"},"url":"http:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/?author=6"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/297"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=297"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"http:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/297\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8563,"href":"http:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/297\/revisions\/8563"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=297"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=297"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=297"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}