Hanscom Field became one of the first airports in the country to have a female director when Barbara Patzner took the helm in 1987. And when she retires at the end of the month, the Bedford general aviation airport will still have a woman running the show.

Sharon Williams started her career as an operations manager at Hanscom in 1994, hired by Patzner, and then spent 12 years at Logan International Airport before returning to Hanscom in 2011 as manager of airport administration.