Katharine Stinson

Katharine Stinson was an American aeronautical engineer and the Federal Aviation Administration's first female engineer.

For the aviator, see Katherine Stinson.
Katharine Stinson
Born(1917-09-18)September 18, 1917
Fuquay Varina, North Carolina
DiedJuly 29, 2001(2001-07-29) (aged 83)
Pinehurst, North Carolina
NationalityAmerican
EducationNorth Carolina State University
Engineering career
Disciplineaeronautical engineering
Employer(s)Federal Aviation Administration
Projectsair worthiness
Significant designsupersonic transport standards
AwardsFAA Sustained Performance Award (1961),[1] Distinguished Women in the Aerospace Industry Award (1984), the Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics' Aviation Pioneer of the Year and Aerospace Engineer of the Year awards (1987 and 1988).[2]

Early life

Born in Fuquay-Varina, North Carolina 14 years after the Wright Brothers made their first flight on North Carolina's Outer Banks, Stinson loved airplanes. A ride from famed aviator Eddie Stinson (no relation) solidified her goal of learning to fly.[1]

While working as a mechanic's assistant at the Raleigh Municipal Airport at age 15, Stinson met Amelia Earhart. When Stinson told Earhart about her flight training, Earhart encouraged her to study engineering instead telling her that she would never make enough money as a pilot.[2]

Education

Stinson took Earhart's advice, enrolling in physics classes in high school and applied to the engineering program at North Carolina State College.[2]

Stinson's 1936 application to the engineering school was declined by Dean Wallace Riddick who met with her explaining that the college would not accept women as freshman. Stinson responded by accepting a scholarship to nearby Meredith College where she completed all 48 required credit hours in a single year. She enrolled in the engineering program the following fall as one of the few female students at the college and only female in the engineering department. She graduated in 1941 with a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering with an aeronautical option, the first woman to do so at the college and one of just five women in the country that year to earn a degree in engineering or architecture.[2]

Career

Following graduation, she was the first female engineer hired by the Civil Aviation Administration. During her 32-year career, she specialized in aircraft safety developing standards for supersonic transports which were used to create the concorde and pioneering distribution of aircraft structural issues. She retired from the Federal Aviation Administration in 1974 as Technical Assistant to the Chief of Aircraft Engineering.[3]

During her career she was active in the Ninety-Nines: International Organization of Women Pilots and helped found the Society of Women Engineers where she served as president from 1953 to 1955.[4] She also served on President Lyndon Johnson's Women's Advisory Committee on Aviation from 1964 to 1970, served as an officer in the Institute of Aeronautical Sciences. Stinson also belonged to the Soroptimist Club, serving president from 1970 to 1972.[2]

In 1967, Stinson attended the second International Conference of Women Engineers and Scientists (ICWES) in Cambridge, UK, and spoke about the role of aircraft in food production.[5]

In 1997 North Carolina State University named her a distinguished alumnus and named Katharine Stinson Drive on campus in her honor.[6]

Awards[1][2]
  • FAA Sustained Performance Award (1961)
  • North Carolina State University College of Engineering Distinguished Alumni (1977, first woman to receive the honor)
  • Distinguished Women in the Aerospace Industry Award (1984)
  • Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics' Aviation Pioneer of the Year
  • Aerospace Engineer of the Year awards (1987 and 1988)

References
  1. Hatch, Sybil E. (2006). Changing our world : true stories of women engineers. Reston, Va: American Soc. of Civil Engineers. pp. 145. ISBN 9780784408353.
  2. "Katharine Stinson Papers, 1937-2001 | NCSU Special Collections Research Center Collection Guides". North Carolina State Libraries.
  3. Rice, Tony (13 June 2016). "Amelia Earhart's advice spurred NC State's 1st female engineering grad". WRAL.com.
  4. "Katharine Stinson". Society of Women Engineers. Retrieved 2020-06-24.
  5. "The Woman Engineer Vol 10". www2.theiet.org. Retrieved 2020-12-13.
  6. "NCSU Timelines". historicalstate.lib.ncsu.edu.
  • Layne, [edited by] Margaret E. (2009). Women in engineering. Reston, Va.: ASCE Press. ISBN 9780784472354.CS1 maint: extra text: authors list (link)
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