Dorothy Helen Hatfield OBE FRAeS (née McRither) (January 1940 – 16 April 2024),

aeronautical engineer Aerospace engineering is the primary field of engineering concerned with the development of aircraft and spacecraft. It has two major and overlapping branches: aeronautical engineering and astronautical engineering. Avionics engineering is s ...

, was in 1956 the first female engineering apprentice at Vickers-Armstrongs (Aircraft),

Brooklands Brooklands was a motor racing circuit and aerodrome built near Weybridge in Surrey, England, United Kingdom. It opened in 1907 and was the world's first purpose-built 'banked' motor racing circuit as well as one of Britain's first airfields, ...

. She became President of 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 ...

and was instrumental in setting up the Daphne Jackson Trust and the Lady Finniston Award for first year female engineering students. Hatfield was appointed an OBE for services to engineering in the

2014 Birthday Honours The 2014 Birthday Honours were appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms of Elizabeth II, Queen Elizabeth II to Orders and decorations of the Commonwealth realms, various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens ...

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,

, the first woman to do so. After six years she graduated with a first class honours degree in aeronautical engineering. McRither married a fellow apprentice and took his surname Hatfield. They had three children who Hatfield took a career break to raise.

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 Rediffusion was a business that distributed radio and TV signals through wired relay networks. The business gave rise to a number of other companies, including Associated-Rediffusion, later known as Rediffusion London, the first ITV (TV network ...

. 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. Hatfield joined the

in 1962 and was its president from 1989 to 1991, overseeing the ninth International Conference of Women Engineers and Scientists in Warwick in 1990. She became a Fellow of the

Royal Aeronautical Society The Royal Aeronautical Society, also known as the RAeS, is a British multi-disciplinary professional institution dedicated to the global aerospace community. Founded in 1866, it is the oldest Aeronautics, aeronautical society in the world. Memb ...

in 1996.

Recognition

For her work with the Women's Engineering Society, Hatfield was awarded the Isabel Hardwich Medal in 2007 and an OBE in 2014 for her services to engineering.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hatfield, Dorothy 1940 births 2024 deaths Aeronautical engineers British women engineers Presidents of the Women's Engineering Society Fellows of the Royal Aeronautical Society Officers of the Order of the British Empire 20th-century British women engineers Women's Engineering Society

Early life and education

Career

Recognition

See also

References