Dorothy Rowntree, (16 January 1903 – 5 February 1988) was the first woman in the UK to qualify in

naval architecture Naval architecture, or naval engineering, is an engineering discipline incorporating elements of mechanical, electrical, electronic, software and safety engineering as applied to the engineering design process, shipbuilding, maintenance, and o ...

and the first woman to graduate in engineering from the

University of Glasgow , image = UofG Coat of Arms.png , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms Flag , latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis , motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita , ...

Early life

Dorothy Rowntree was born in Glasgow, Scotland, in 1903. At the time of Dorothy Rowntree's matriculation at the

University of Glasgow , image = UofG Coat of Arms.png , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms Flag , latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis , motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita , ...

, her father, Robert Stanley Rowntree, was a surveyor to

Lloyd's Register Lloyd's Register Group Limited (LR) is a technical and professional services organisation and a maritime classification society, wholly owned by the Lloyd’s Register Foundation, a UK charity dedicated to research and education in science and ...

of Shipping and Dorothy is registered as living in Westbourne Gardens, in

Kelvinside Kelvinside is a district in the Scottish city of Glasgow. It is situated north of the River Clyde and is bounded by Broomhill, Dowanhill and Hyndland to the south with Kelvindale and the River Kelvin to the north. It is an affluent area of Gl ...

, an area of Glasgow.

Education

Rowntree began studying at the University of Glasgow in the academic year 1922/23. She achieved a BSc Engineering (Naval Architecture) on 24 April 1926, the first woman graduate in engineering from the University and the first woman graduate in the UK in naval architecture.

Working life

Rowntree worked in Fairfield Shipbuilding Yard then subsequently moved to

Beirut Beirut, french: Beyrouth is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, which makes it the third-largest city in the Levant region. The city is situated on a peninsula at the midpoint o ...

, Lebanon, and worked from 1928 for President Professor Bayard Dodge, American University of Beirut. Whilst there, she wrote an article on her travelling experiences in the Middle East for The Woman Engineer, the journal of the

Women's Engineering Society The Women's Engineering Society is a United Kingdom professional learned society and networking body for women engineers, scientists and technologists. It was the first professional body set up for women working in all areas of engineering, pred ...

of which she was a member. Rowntree appears in the "Inspiring Women" list of the Women's Engineering Society.

Personal life

In Beirut, Rowntree met Norman Joly and married him. The couple lived in Palestine and Israel and returned to Lebanon in 1948. They had two sons. Rowntree died in Hampshire, in England, in 1988.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rowntree, Dorothy Scottish women engineers 1903 births Engineers from Glasgow 1988 deaths Alumni of the University of Glasgow British naval architects Women's Engineering Society Naval architects 20th-century British businesspeople