Dorothy Hatfield

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Dorothy Hatfield
BornJanuary 1940
Died16 April 2024(2024-04-16) (aged 84)[1]
OccupationAeronautical engineer
EmployerVickers-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]

Life and career[edit]

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[edit]

For her work with the Women's Engineering Society, Hatfield was awarded the Isabel Hardwich Medal in 2007.[6]

See also[edit]

Janet Gulland became the first female graduate apprentice at Vickers-Armstrongs in 1958.[7]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b "Obituary". The Woman Engineer. 22 (3): 4. Summer 2024.
  2. ^ "WES Lady Finniston Awards". Women's Engineering Society. Archived from the original on 2 September 2011. Retrieved 10 March 2021.
  3. ^ a b "Dorothy Hatfield". Women's Engineering Society. Archived from the original on 22 March 2019. Retrieved 10 March 2021.
  4. ^ "Queen's Birthday Honours recognise Stem champions". Institution of Mechanical Engineers. 16 June 2014. Retrieved 10 March 2021.
  5. ^ "Queen honours engineer and village stalwart". West Sussex Today. 19 June 2014. Retrieved 10 March 2021.
  6. ^ "Isabel Hardwich Medal". Women's Engineering Society. Archived from the original on 19 January 2019. Retrieved 10 March 2021.
  7. ^ "Brooklands Museum :: LGBTQ at Brooklands: Janet Gulland". www.brooklandsmuseum.com. Retrieved 21 June 2023.


Further reading[edit]

https://electrifyingwomen.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/56/2020/05/Dorothy-Hatfield-BIO.pdf