Lillian Gilbreth is one of the most prolific women engineers in history. We have profiled Ms Gilbreth earlier on the Skellig blog.

Some of her notable achievements are:

  • first female professor in the engineering school at Purdue University
  • first woman elected to the National Academy of Engineering
  • second woman to join the American Society of Mechanical Engineers
  • until 2005, the only woman awarded the prestigious Hoover Award, jointly bestowed by five leading engineering organizations recognizing “great, unselfish, non-technical services by engineers to humanity”
  • dubbed “the mother of modern management”
  • In the 1940’s, was called “a genius in the art of living”
  • two of her most well-known inventions are shelves inside refrigerator doors, including the egg keeper and butter tray, and the foot-pedal trash can
  • she filed patents on an improved electric can opener and the wastewater hose for clothes washers
  • as an industrial engineer working at General Electric, she interviewed over 4,000 women to design the proper height for stoves, sinks and other kitchen fixtures as she worked on improving kitchen designs
  • taught college and university courses at Bryn Mawr, Newark College of Engineering, Rutgers University, and the University of Wisconsin
  • resident lecturer at MIT in 1964
  • served as an advisor to at least five US presidents on civil defense and women’s issues
  • received more than 20 honorary degrees and several prestigious awards and was included in American Men of Science, Who’s Who of American Women, and Notable American Women: The Modern Period