Velda Jones-Potter

Velda Jones-Potter is manager of contract manufacturing for the DuPont Co. She received a Trailblazer Award from the Agenda for Delaware Women for enhancing the visibility and stature of professional women in the state. The first African-American woman to graduate from the University with an engineering degree, Jones-Potter daily manages DuPont's $20 million, asset-based manufacturing operations in the U.S. and Canada. From 1995-1997, as an executive-on-loan, she served as the city of Wilmington's first female director of finance. While there, she aggressively solicited past-due water accounts, oversaw the collection of $234,000 in delinquent parking tickets and increased city revenues by $1.3 million. Jones-Potter, who grew up in Wilmington's Riverside area and attended Wilmington public schools, was one of the first five high school students chosen 22 years ago for UD's Forum to Advance Minorities in Engineering (FAME).