‘Like a Fish in the Water:’ Ilya Espino de Marotta ’85 Thrives at the Panama Canal
Texas A&M University at Galveston engineering graduate known for megaproject leadership was named the first woman to lead the critical shipping channel.
Texas A&M University at Galveston engineering graduate known for megaproject leadership was named the first woman to lead the critical shipping channel.
Sea Aggies meet Ilya Espino de Marotta, the next administrator of the Panama Canal. FROM LEFT: Dr. Robert Morrison, Espino de Marotta, Emily Morrison, lock operations manager Gerardo Godoy, Gabriela Limas, Jackie Alonzo, Andrea Flores-Cavazos, Abby Mize, Angel Moreno, and Naim Morales. (Photos: Courtesy Dr. Robert Morrison)
Pink – the color of Ilya Espino de Marotta’s signature hard hat – makes a statement about the next administrator of the Panama Canal Authority: “I’m a woman, and I can do this job.’”
Another reddish hue speaks to the foundational educational experiences and values that have powered the successful engineer’s wildly influential career: Aggie maroon.
“I believe in teamwork big time and the Aggie values,” said the 1985 Texas A&M University at Galveston (TAMUG) graduate. “The core values of the university, I think, are what form us throughout those years of education.”
In four decades working at the Panama Canal, Espino de Marotta has employed those Core Values – Excellence, Integrity, Leadership, Loyalty, Respect, and Selfless Service – as a force for transformation.
As deputy administrator of the interoceanic waterway since Jan. 1, 2020, Espino de Marotta directed a massive $5 billion expansion of the waterway – a modernization essential to serving ships of the sizes preferred today.
“The canal that was transferred to Panama from the U.S. is not the canal that was turned over in 1999,” Espino de Marotta said. “We built a brand-new set of locks for much, much bigger ships that actually provide more than 50% of our income in today’s day and age.”
Forbes Magazine took notice in 2017, putting Espino de Marotta on the cover of a special edition of Forbes Centroamérica. The issue featured 50 powerful women in Central America, and the resourceful Aggie remains an inspiration for women in engineering.
“My students, especially the women, loved meeting her,” said Dr. Robert Morrison, a program manager and professor of practice with the Maritime Business Administration Department at the College Station, Galveston, and McAllen campuses, after Sea Aggies toured the canal in early June. “They were very excited to see Ilya Espino de Marotta and then see the opportunities.”
Canal expansion will remain a priority for the new top administrator with two new ports – one at each end of the canal – a lake, a natural gas pipeline and a logistics corridor planned.
Heavy turnover will be a challenge, with 3,000 retirements anticipated over the next five years, but it also brings opportunities, Espino de Marotta said. “There’s always room in different areas for Aggies to be here.”
On Oct. 1, Espino de Marotta will begin a seven-year term, becoming the first woman to lead the Panama Canal Authority, but not the first Aggie. Alberto Alemán Zubieta ’73 led the canal for 16 years, guiding the transition from U.S. to Panamanian control.
Today, about 160 to 180 Aggies are working for the canal, including as pilots, tugboat captains, and engineers, Espino de Marotta said. Attendance for Aggie Muster in Panama can run 100 more.
Col. Michael E. Fossum, ’80, vice president of Texas A&M University, chief operating officer of TAMUG, and superintendent of the Texas A&M Maritime Academy, spoke at Muster in Panama a few years ago.
Espino de Marotta appreciates the way Aggies stand together and fondly remembers the camaraderie experienced as a student on the Galveston campus, when male students outnumbered female students 10 to 1.
There was only one other woman in the marine engineering program, Espino de Marotta recalled. “I felt very comfortable being around men in my university years, so that made me feel like a fish in the water when I came to work in the shipyard at the canal.”
At TAMUG, Espino de Marotta served as a resident advisor on the female floor of the co-ed dorm and started aerobics classes on the Texas Clipper for other female students.
“We used to go fishing all the time and have fish fries,” Espino de Marotta said, praising the cozy campus for its family feel, small classes, and accessible faculty. “I remember having to ride my bicycle over the drawbridge (to go shopping). And then you have, of course, the beach if you’re a beach person like me.”
A scuba enthusiast and fan of famed French diver and filmmaker Jacques Cousteau, Espino de Marotta, who was born in Mexico and grew up in Panama, describes coming to Texas A&M as pivotal but almost accidental.
After deciding that the marine biology program at Slippery Rock State College in Pennsylvania wasn’t the right fit, Espino de Marotta moved to College Station. “I didn’t know anything about A&M except that the university offered oceanography.”
However, concerned that studying oceanography would lead to a career teaching at a Panamanian university, the strong math and physics student switched to marine engineering, because ships are on the water.
“I wanted to be by the water,” Espino de Marotta said. “Then I ended up in Galveston and am very happy that I did.”
