Dorothy Hatfield
Dorothy Hatfield | |
|---|---|
| Born | January 1940 |
| Died | 16 April 2024 (aged 84)[1] |
| Occupation | Aeronautical engineer |
| Employer | Vickers-Armstrongs |
Dorothy Helen Hatfield OBE FRAeS (née McRither) (January 1940 – 16 April 2024), aeronautical engineer, was in 1956 the first female engineering apprentice at Vickers-Armstrongs (Aircraft), Brooklands. She became President of the Women's Engineering Society and was instrumental in setting up the Daphne Jackson Trust and the Lady Finniston Award[2] for first year female engineering students.[3] Hatfield was appointed an OBE for services to engineering in the 2014 Birthday Honours.[4][5]
Early life and education
Dorothy McRither was born in January 1940 and brought up in Surrey. She left school at 16 and in 1956 successfully applied to be an engineering apprentice at Vickers-Armstrongs (Aircraft) Ltd, Brooklands, the first woman to do so. After six years she graduated with a first class honours degree in aeronautical engineering.[6]
McRither married a fellow apprentice and took his surname Hatfield. They had three children who Hatfield took a career break to raise.[6]
Career
Hatfield then returned to work in the flight simulation industry, working in the technical publications department of Redifon Flight Simulation, before moving into Sales Engineering. She then worked the science and engineering division of a software house before becoming a Pricing Manager at Rediffusion. She was Trust Executive to the Daphne Jackson Trust for a time. She worked as a Contracts Manager at the Quadrant Group which manufactured aircraft parts, then at a flight simulation company in Sussex before retiring in 2001.[6]
Hatfield joined the Women's Engineering Society in 1962 and was its president from 1989 to 1991,[1] overseeing the ninth International Conference of Women Engineers and Scientists in Warwick in 1990.[6] She became a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society in 1996.[3]
Recognition
For her work with the Women's Engineering Society, Hatfield was awarded the Isabel Hardwich Medal in 2007 [7] and an OBE in 2014 for her services to engineering.[4][5]
See also
Janet Gulland became the first female graduate apprentice at Vickers-Armstrongs in 1958.[8]
References
- ^ a b "Obituary". The Woman Engineer. 22 (3): 4. Summer 2024.
- ^ "WES Lady Finniston Awards". Women's Engineering Society. Archived from the original on 2 September 2011. Retrieved 10 March 2021.
- ^ a b "Dorothy Hatfield". Women's Engineering Society. Archived from the original on 22 March 2019. Retrieved 10 March 2021.
- ^ a b "Queen's Birthday Honours recognise Stem champions". Institution of Mechanical Engineers. 16 June 2014. Retrieved 10 March 2021.
- ^ a b "Queen honours engineer and village stalwart". West Sussex Today. 19 June 2014. Retrieved 10 March 2021.
- ^ a b c d "Dorothy Helen Hatfield (McRither)" (PDF).
- ^ "Isabel Hardwich Medal". Women's Engineering Society. Archived from the original on 19 January 2019. Retrieved 10 March 2021.
- ^ "Brooklands Museum :: LGBTQ at Brooklands: Janet Gulland". www.brooklandsmuseum.com. Retrieved 21 June 2023.