Faculty and Administration

Nicole says, “My career path began at Ameren when I graduated from Ranken.” Michael Pallarito, Supervisor of Facilities Maintenance and Construction at Ameren, says “Nicole is a valued employee who took advantage of opportunities with Ameren to further herself in every possible way. She began in an entry-level position and steadily worked her way up in our Office Mechanics Program with a combination of traditional schooling and extensive on-the-job training that escalated her to a Level of Full Building Mechanic and a leadership role within the Facilities and Maintenance Department. This can only be done through hard work, dedication, and a desire to succeed.”

Bill Layman, former Electrical instructor, explains “Nicole came to Ranken as one of the few female students in the Industrial Electricity/Electronics program. She was never intimidated by being in a typically male-dominated program. Her work ethic was outstanding. She proved herself to be an excellent employee based on her knowledge, skills, and attitude. I’m sure that she’s a respected and valued member of the maintenance team at Ameren. Nicole is one of the finest human beings you’ll ever meet. She’s a great example of what women can accomplish in the skilled trades and a great representative for Ranken and the importance of lifelong learning.”

Nicole says, “My Ranken career gave me the opportunity to achieve a lot of firsts for diversity. I graduated twice as the only female in the class and was the first female Maintenance Mechanic at Ameren. Without my IE degree, I would have never had the education requirements Ameren expected. My favorite memory of Ranken was having built a transformer backward; it had way too many volts on the protoboard. Leave it to me to innocently discover issues to keep students from killing themselves! Thank me later.”