Commanding female presence

"Diane can do anything, whether it's writing computer programs, riding Jet Skis, or doing mathematical equations," according to her father, Bill Kuehner, a retired engineer.

Accomplishment runs in the family. Brother Bill, 41, is a physician; sister Karen, 35, a physical therapist; and sister Nancy, 29, an elementary school teacher. Their mother, Marilyn, taught high school physics and math.

"We're kind of a vanilla family," says Dr. Bill, an internist in Allentown. "We don't skydive. We're just kind of plain guys and girls."

Nothing plain about Chief Schweizer's love of water-skiing. She can do it all day long. More than once, she and Nancy have run out of gas and have had to paddle to shore.

Schweizer graduated from the University of Scranton in 1990 with a degree in math. During her junior year, she studied at the London School of Economics. In '92, she earned a master's in emergency medical services from Hahnemann University.

When Schweizer joined the department in '95, there were fewer than a dozen women. Firehouses had no separate facilities. Bathroom stalls had no doors; bathroom doors had no locks. Women used the officers' bathroom.

There are now 113 women among a total of 2,111, according to department figures. Sixty-seven women make up almost 32 percent of the paramedics. Among firefighters, women are only 2.5 percent of the 1,551-person force.

As a woman, Schweizer swears she's never had a bad experience at work.

"You have to be a certain kind of woman to be in this job," she says. "You have to be secure, believe in yourself, and be strong-willed. Whether you realize it or not, you're a minority.

"If people know you're credible, they don't tend to hassle you. I'm strong. I can work. It was never an issue of me not being able to do my job. I've always been treated equally."

By late 2003, however, Schweizer almost left the department to study medicine because "it wasn't challenging enough for me."

That changed when former Commissioner Harold Hairston, her mentor and best man at her wedding, named her the department's public information officer.

Again, she was the first woman in the post. This time, there was real tension, she says.

"People were waiting for me to fail. Nobody did anything specific, but they were watching my every move."

She didn't fail, of course. For Schweizer, failure is not an option. In fact, the last example she could remember was her New Jersey driver's test when she was 17.

"No matter what the obstacle, I don't give up," she says. "If I don't do it the first time, I'll keep doing it until it's done. There's nothing I won't try or do."

Hail to the chief, gentlemen.