British engineer
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]
Life and career
Hatfield left school at 16 and 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.
Hatfield returned to work after a career break to work in the flight simulation industry. She joined the Women's Engineering Society in 1962 and was its president from 1989 to 1991.[1] 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.[6]
See also
Janet Gulland became the first female graduate apprentice at Vickers-Armstrongs in 1958.[7]
References
Further reading
https://electrifyingwomen.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/56/2020/05/Dorothy-Hatfield-BIO.pdf
