They are the soldiers who return home from the Middle East, who tell stories about how they might have died had it not been for the bullet- and blast-resistant gear they wore. They are the police officers who talk about how body armor containing Spectra material protected them from bullets.

Since becoming segment leader for Honeywell's Advanced Fibers and Composites Business in 2003, Anne C. Cook has met some of those soldiers and heard their stories.

"There is a business aspect to it, and there is an emotional aspect to it," Cook said of manufacturing and marketing Spectra. "The employees here feel this way, and I do, too. You feel like you are doing something good. We have had soldiers come down here who have been protected by our material. You get tears in your eyes hearing the stories."

As segment leader, Cook is responsible for a team of managers who oversee the development, manufacturing, testing and sale of Spectra fiber, a high-strength synthetic material typically used in bullet-resistant vests, small-arms protective inserts (SAPI plates), bomb-blast containers and protective gloves.

The Richmond area is the nucleus for the U.S. body-armor industry, thanks to Honeywell's Spectra unit on Woods Edge Road and DuPont's Kevlar manufacturing site on Jefferson Davis Highway. The companies sell Spectra and Kevlar to makers of vests and other gear, including sporting gear and ropes. Both companies have expanded their operations during the past few years to meet demand.

Honeywell, an industrial conglomerate based in Morristown, N.J., has invested $50 million in its Spectra site here in the past three years. Another expansion is under way now, scheduled for completion this year. "We have a lot of training going on. We're hiring new people every day," Cook said. "It's right on track, and we are very excited about it."

At 35, Cook seems young to be managing a global business. Yet it also seems that her whole career has been leading her toward a management role where science, marketing and manufacturing intersect. In a 13-year career, Cook has amassed experience in all those fields.

"I've been fortunate to always have jobs that I loved," she said. "That is what has driven my career."

A native of Tallahassee, Fla., Cook comes from a family where math and science must be in the blood. Her father is a computer scientist, her mother an accountant. Three of her five siblings are chemical engineers, one is an accountant, and one is a chemistry major in college.

It was applied science that drove Cook to study chemistry and biology. "I really like to know how things work, and why things work, so I like the idea of using science to explain things," she said. She studied biology at Florida State University and was considering going to medical school, but she switched her major to chemical engineering after an adviser sat down with her one day and asked her exactly what she planned to do with a biology degree.

"At the time, there was a huge demand for chemical engineering, especially for women in chemical engineering," she said. "It was a purely professional decision."

In 1992, Cook took a job with Monsanto Co., working in the company's nylon business in Alabama. She gained experience by rotating through several jobs of increasing responsibility, from research and development to plant engineer. She became the lead engineer on the construction of a plant in Dalton, Ga.

Then her career took a turn when she was offered a job as a marketing manager for a new carpet brand. "I loved it. I had a blast," she said. "It was fun to see the customer side of the business."

When Monsanto spun off its chemicals division, Solutia Inc., in 1997, Cook stayed with Solutia, and she stuck with marketing. The company was initiating a worldwide promotion for its Saflex product, which is used to make shatter-proof laminated glass for buildings and cars. Cook worked with auto companies and architectural firms to market the product. "It was a heady experience," she said of the job, which took her all over the world.

She was in Singapore in 2003, working with a retailer on a storefront design, when her cell phone rang. It was an independent recruiter, who told her, "I've got a great job for you at Honeywell."

"I said, 'I wasn't even looking for a job,'" Cook recalled. But the recruiter was persistent.

Although she loved working in St. Louis for Solutia, Cook said she came around to idea of working for Honeywell when she thought of the opportunities at a global company with $25 billion in revenue -- 10 times that of Solutia. It was a chance to put all her skills together in one business. Plus, the job would bring her back to the Southeast, closer to her family in Florida and where the climate is more to her liking. Soon, she was packing her bags for Richmond.

"I moved during a snowstorm in January 2004," she said. "I think I lived on pizza for three days and the kindness of neighbors who offered me food."

Mike Ryan, Honeywell's vice president of performance products, said he hired Cook for two reasons. One was her marketing skills. The other was her experience working with customers and developing markets in Europe and Asia, which fits Honeywell's strategy of expanding its Spectra product globally. Ryan said he also thinks Cook brings an enormous talent for developing new applications for Spectra.

"She is early in her career, and she is a very bright and capable person with a great amount of energy," Ryan said.

Since coming to Richmond, Cook said she has gotten involved in several civic and professional groups, notably the local Junior Achievement program, through which she has been teaching a community awareness class to students at Marguerite Christian Elementary School. It covers topics such as business, banking and zoning.

Although Cook has moved a lot in her career, she thinks this job is likely to keep her in Richmond for a long time.

"Now that I've been here for a year, I can say that it is a great business to work in," she said. "We are in a multiyear growth business here. I like that, and I want to see it through."

-- March 17, 2005

Ann Cook, segment leader
 for Honeywell's Spectra
 business unit.