Cicely Thompson M.B.E. (9 June 1919 – 3 February 2008) was a

nuclear engineer Nuclear engineering is the engineering discipline concerned with designing and applying systems that utilize the energy released by nuclear processes. The most prominent application of nuclear engineering is the generation of electricity. Worldwide ...

Early life

She was born Jane Cecily Thompson on 9 June 1919 in Great Ouseburn, England, to James Osbert Thompson and Jane Harrision Highmoor. Her father was an architect-surveyor.

Education

Thompson studied mathematics at

Girton College Girton College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was established in 1869 by Emily Davies and Barbara Bodichon as the first women's college at Cambridge. In 1948, it was granted full college status by the univ ...

, Cambridge. She took up practical engineering when she joined the Leicester Electricity Service, beginning a career in power station development and design.Celebrating Women In Engineering 1919-2019- The Women's Engineering Society

Career

In 1956, Thompson joined the

Associated Electrical Industries Associated Electrical Industries (AEI) was a British holding company formed in 1928 through the merger of British Thomson-Houston (BTH) and Metropolitan-Vickers electrical engineering companies. In 1967 AEI was acquired by GEC, to create the UK ...

John Thompson Group (AEIJTG) and was the only woman on the team designing two nuclear power stations for the

Central Electricity Authority The Central Electricity Authority (CEA) was a body that managed and operated the electricity supply industry in England and Wales between 1 April 1955 and 31 December 1957. The CEA replaced the earlier British Electricity Authority (BEA) as a res ...

, including Hinckley Point B and later the

Dungeness power station The Dungeness nuclear power stations are a pair of non-operational nuclear power stations located on the Dungeness headland in the south of Kent, England. Dungeness A is a legacy Magnox power station consisting of two 250MWe reactors which wer ...

. In 1958, she joined the

Institution of Electrical Engineers The Institution of Electrical Engineers (IEE) was a British professional organisation of electronics, electrical, manufacturing, and information technology professionals, especially electrical engineers. It began in 1871 as the Society of Tel ...

and became a Fellow in 1986. In 1980, she worked as a project engineer at the Nuclear Power Co (Risley). She was awarded an M.B.E. in 1980 for her work in the nuclear industry.

Supporting women in engineering

Thompson joined the

Women's Engineering Society The Women's Engineering Society is a United Kingdom professional learned society and networking body for women engineers, scientists and technologists. It was the first professional body set up for women working in all areas of engineering, pred ...

(WES) in 1947. In 1972, Thompson toured Britain delivering the Verena Holmes lectures, designed to encourage more girls to take up engineering as a career. Between 1977 and 1981 Thompson was a committee member of the Manchester branch of the Women's Engineering Society. She was elected president of WES in 1963 and 1965, succeeding

Isabel Hardwich Isabel Helen Hardwich (; 19 September 191919 February 1987) was an English electrical engineer, an expert in photometry, and fellow and president of the Women's Engineering Society. Early life and education Isabel Helen Cox was born on 19 S ...

in the role in 1963. Thompson was unable to fulfill the two full years in post due to working in Italy, and was replaced by

Dorothy Cridland Dorothy May Cridland (15 February 1903 – 25 May 1987) was an English mechanical engineer, who worked for Leyland Motors and the Institute of Mechanical Engineers over her career. She was president of the Women's Engineering Society (WES) in 196 ...

, but resumed the Presidency in 1965. She spoke at the first

International Conference of Women Engineers and Scientists ICWES (International Conference of Women Engineers and Scientists) is an international conference for engineers and scientists. Established in 1964, it takes place every 3–4 years in countries around the world. Since 1999, the conference has bee ...

(ICWES) in New York on a panel which included Australian telecommunications engineer Olwen Wooster and attended the second ICWES conference in

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

in 1967, where amongst other things, she was taught how to wear a sari by Indian engineer K. K. Khubchandani alongside fellow WES members and engineers Rose Winslade, Hettie Bussell, and US delegates Louise Davies and Betty Lou Bailey. In 1989 she published a history of the Women's Engineering Society and in 1990 was awarded the

Medal. She was also elected a member of the American

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 ...

. Cicely Thompson died on 3 February 2008, and left a legacy to WES.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thompson, Cicely 2008 deaths 1919 births British nuclear engineers People from the Borough of Harrogate Presidents of the Women's Engineering Society 20th-century women engineers Women's Engineering Society Alumni of Girton College, Cambridge 20th-century British engineers 20th-century English women engineers Members of the Society of Women Engineers