Katharine Stinson (1917-2001) was an American aeronautical engineer and the

Federal Aviation Administration The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is the largest transportation agency of the U.S. government and regulates all aspects of civil aviation in the country as well as over surrounding international waters. Its powers include air traffic m ...

's first female engineer.

Early life

Born in

Fuquay-Varina, North Carolina Fuquay-Varina ( ) is a town in southern Wake County, North Carolina, United States, lying south of Holly Springs and southwest of Garner, and north of the Harnett County town of Angier and west of the unincorporated community of Willow Spr ...

, 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 Edward Anderson Stinson, Jr. (July 11, 1893 – January 26, 1932) was an American pilot and aircraft manufacturer. "Eddie" Stinson was the founder of Stinson Aircraft Company. At the time of his death in 1932 in an air crash, he was the world's ...

(no relation) when she was 10 years old solidified her goal of learning to fly. While working as a mechanic's assistant at the Raleigh Municipal Airport at age 15, Stinson met

Amelia Earhart Amelia Mary Earhart ( , born July 24, 1897; disappeared July 2, 1937; declared dead January 5, 1939) was an American aviation pioneer and writer. Earhart was the first female aviator to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean. She set many oth ...

. 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.

Education

Stinson took Earhart's advice, and enrolled in physics classes in high school and applied to the engineering program at

North Carolina State College North Carolina State University (NC State) is a public land-grant research university in Raleigh, North Carolina. Founded in 1887 and part of the University of North Carolina system, it is the largest university in the Carolinas. The university ...

. 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 freshmen. Stinson responded by accepting a scholarship to nearby

Meredith College Meredith College is a private women's liberal arts college and coeducational graduate school in Raleigh, North Carolina. As of 2021 Meredith enrolls approximately 1,500 women in its undergraduate programs and 300 men and women in its graduate pr ...

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 the only female in the engineering department. She graduated in 1941 with a Bachelor's Degree in Mechanical Engineering with an Aeronautical option, becoming the first woman to do so at N.C. State, and one of just five women in the country that year to earn a degree in engineering or architecture.

Career

Following graduation, Stinson was the first female engineer hired by the

Civil Aviation Administration The Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC; ) is the Chinese civil aviation authority under the Ministry of Transport. It oversees civil aviation and investigates aviation accidents and incidents. As the aviation authority responsible f ...

. During her 32-year career, she specialized in aircraft safety, developing standards for supersonic transports which were used to create the

Concorde The Aérospatiale/BAC Concorde () is a retired Franco-British supersonic airliner jointly developed and manufactured by Sud Aviation (later Aérospatiale) and the British Aircraft Corporation (BAC). Studies started in 1954, and France an ...

, and pioneering distribution of aircraft structural issues. She retired from the

in 1974 as Technical Assistant to the Chief of Aircraft Engineering. During her career, she was active in the Ninety-Nines: International Organization of Women Pilots and helped found the

Society of Women Engineers The Society of Women Engineers (SWE) is an international not-for-profit educational and service organization. Founded in 1950 and headquartered in the United States, the Society of Women Engineers is a major advocate for women in engineering and ...

where she served as president from 1953 to 1955. She also served on President

Lyndon Johnson Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), often referred to by his initials LBJ, was an American politician who served as the 36th president of the United States from 1963 to 1969. He had previously served as the 37th vice ...

's Women's Advisory Committee on Aviation from 1964 to 1970, and served as an officer in the

Institute of Aeronautical Sciences The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) is a professional society for the field of aerospace engineering. The AIAA is the U.S. representative on the International Astronautical Federation and the International Council of t ...

. Stinson also belonged to the

Soroptimist Club Soroptimist International (SI) is a global volunteer service organization for women with nearly 72,000 members in 121 countries worldwide. According to Soroptimist.org, their mission statement says that, "Soroptimist is a global volunteer organiza ...

, serving as president from 1970 to 1972. In 1967, Stinson attended the second International Conference of Women Engineers and Scientists (ICWES) in

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...

, UK, and spoke about the role of aircraft in food production. In 1997 North Carolina State University named her a distinguished alumnus and named Katharine Stinson Drive on campus in her honor.

Awards

* 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

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Stinson, Katharine 1917 births 2001 deaths Aeronautical engineers American women engineers 20th-century American engineers People from Fuquay-Varina, North Carolina Engineers from North Carolina 20th-century American women