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Women's History Month Spotlights

Fascinated by her father's work as a surveyor, Leah Moncure developed a love for mathematics early on. After briefly pursuing a teaching career, Moncure decided draftsmanship and civil engineering were more appealing. She obtained a position on a construction project for Howe & Wise Consulting Firm, and soon realized she would need an engineering degree to continue the work she had come to love.

She attended The University of Texas at Austin, earning her civil engineering degree in 1937. During her 32-year civil engineering career, she focused on road design and research.

On April 22, 1938, Moncure became the first female to register as a professional engineer and later became the first female life member of the National Society of Professional Engineers (NSPE).

After her first plane trip, Jean M. Flynn recalls, "I was consumed with a passion to know how it worked, what kept the plane in the air." This passion led Flynn to obtain an aerospace engineering degree from the University of Texas at Austin in 1990, followed by a master's degree from Stanford University.

Upon graduation, Flynn attended flight school, finishing first in the pilot training class. Despite her interest in the F-15E combat aircraft, Flynn was assigned as an Instructor Pilot for T-38s. The Department of Defense finally lifted its prohibition on women flying combat aircraft in April 1993 and Flynn was announced as the first female combat pilot in 1994.

Flynn accumulated more than 2000 hours in the F-15 by 2002 with more than 200 hours in combat time. She was the first female to graduate from the US Air Force Weapons School at Nellis AFB in Nevada. Currently, Flynn is an F-15 instructor, another first for women in the Air Force.

Women's History Month Spotlights

Edith Clarke was born in 1883 and graduated in 1908 from Vassar College with honors in math and astronomy. Clarke became interested in computers while working for AT&T and in 1918 enrolled in MIT's Electrical Engineering program where she earned a master's degree; the first degree of its kind awarded to a woman. In 1947, Clarke became the first female faculty member hired into the College of Engineering at UT Austin.

Clarke focused on developing mathematical methods for the design and operation of electrical power systems and, in 1921, filed for a patent of a "graphical calculator". Clarke was also the first female to present a paper for the American Institute in Electrical Engineering (AIEE).

Combining her interests in biology, chemistry and math, Christine Schmidt decided to pursue a career in chemical and biomedical engineering and graduated with high honors from UT Austin in 1988. After conducting postdoctoral research at MIT, Schmidt joined the faculty of UT Austin's Department of Chemical Engineering. Schmidt then transferred to the Department of Biomedical Engineering where she now supervises a research group of graduate and undergraduate students.

Through her research, Schmidt developed a polymer that conducts electricity stimulating new growth in nerves. Schmidt also created a prosthesis for use in bypass heart surgery procedures and, in collaboration with Sulzer Biologics, is developing tissue that will behave like a normal blood vessel once implanted.