Concepción Mendizábal Mendoza (March 4, 1893 – November 23, 1985) was a Mexican

civil engineer A civil engineer is a person who practices civil engineering – the application of planning, designing, constructing, maintaining, and operating infrastructure while protecting the public and environmental health, as well as improving existing ...

. Mendizábal was the first woman in Mexico to earn a civil engineering degree. She attended the

Palacio de Minería The Palace of Mining, also Palace of Mines, ( es, Palacio de Minería) is a building in Mexico City, Mexico, considered to be a fine example of Neoclassical architecture in the Americas. It was designed and built between 1797 and 1813 by Valencia ...

starting in 1921 and successfully passed the engineering exam on February 11, 1930.

Biography

Mendizábal was born in

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley o ...

on March 4, 1893. Her father, Joaquín de Mendizábal y Tamborrel, was an engineer and she was inspired by his career. She had a primary education between 1913 and 1917 and then entered a

normal school A normal school or normal college is an institution created to Teacher education, train teachers by educating them in the norms of pedagogy and curriculum. In the 19th century in the United States, instruction in normal schools was at the high s ...

for teachers. She also pursued additional courses in

math Mathematics is an area of knowledge that includes the topics of numbers, formulas and related structures, shapes and the spaces in which they are contained, and quantities and their changes. These topics are represented in modern mathematics ...

. Mendizábal started taking engineering classes at the Escuela Nacional de Ingenieros in the

in 1921. At first, she audited the classes, but eventually her normal school courses were considered equivalent to the

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

she required to be fully enrolled. While she was in school, her father became ill and eventually died in 1926. Nevertheless, she came back to school and achieved high grades in all her classes. She graduated in 1927 and in January 1930, applied to take the professional exam for engineers. Her

thesis A thesis ( : theses), or dissertation (abbreviated diss.), is a document submitted in support of candidature for an academic degree or professional qualification presenting the author's research and findings.International Standard ISO 7144: ...

was unusual in being illustrated with

photograph A photograph (also known as a photo, image, or picture) is an image created by light falling on a photosensitive surface, usually photographic film or an electronic image sensor, such as a CCD or a CMOS chip. Most photographs are now create ...

s. When she passed the exam on February 11, 1930, she became the first woman in Mexico to earn a

civil engineering Civil engineering is a professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including public works such as roads, bridges, canals, dams, airports, sewage ...

degree. Mendizábal went on to work with the Sociedad Científica Antonio Alzate, which her father had helped create. She was honored with the Ruth Rivera award in 1974. Mendizábal died on November 23, 1985.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mendizábal Mendoza, Concepción Mexican civil engineers 1893 births 1985 deaths People from Mexico City Mexican women engineers 20th-century women engineers