Kitty O'Brien Joyner

{{Infobox person | name = Kitty O'Brien Joyner | image = Kitty Joyner - Electrical Engineer - GPN-2000-001933.jpg | image_size=300px | alt = | caption = Joyner analyzing the operation of a wind tunnel turbine at NACA Langley in 1952 | birth_date = (1916-07-11)11 Juli 1916 | birth_place = Charlottesville, Virginia | birth_name = Kitty Wingfield O'Brien | death_date = 16 Agustus 1993(1993-08-16) (umur 77) | death_place = | monuments = | education =

| alma_mater =

• Sweet Briar College
• University of Virginia

| occupation = [[Electrical engineer] | years_active = 1939–1971

| employer =

• NACA
• NASA

| organization = IEEE | known_for = Insinyur perempuan pertama di Memorial Langley Aeronautical Laboratory | spouse = Upshur T. Joyner | awards = Algernon Sydney Sullivan Award | signature = | signature_size = | signature_alt = | footnotes = }}

Kitty O'Brien Joyner (July 11, 1916 – August 16, 1993) was an American electrical engineer with the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA), and then with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) upon its replacement of NACA in 1958. She was the first woman to graduate from the University of Virginia's engineering program in 1939, receiving the Algernon Sydney Sullivan Award upon graduation. When she was hired by NACA the same year, she became the first woman engineer at the organization, eventually rising to the title Branch Head and managing several of its wind tunnels. Her work contributed to research on aeronautics, supersonic flight, airfoils, and aircraft design standards.

Early life and education

Kitty Wingfield O'Brien was born in Charlottesville, Virginia, on July 11, 1916. Her father was an engineer, inspiring her to pursue the same career. After high school, she wanted to attend the University of Virginia (UVA). Virginia state law had allowed women to attend public universities since 1920, but UVA implemented several hurdles for women who wished to apply, requiring that they attend school somewhere else for two years first and be at least 20 years old. These requirements were still in place in 1935, when O'Brien would have applied, so she attended Sweet Briar College for two years between 1935 and 1937, then successfully petitioned UVA to gain admission.

Not initially seeing an opportunity for women in the field, she told a Miami News reporter that "she had always wished she were a boy so she could follow his profession". The reporter wrote about her while she was in Florida attending an engineering conference at which her paper "Fluorescence, the Light of the Future" won second place among student work. Although the reporter remarked that "electrical engineering is scarcely considered a feminine profession", O'Brien used the opportunity to talk about how engineering presents a great opportunity for women and girls.

In her time at UVA she was secretary of the Virginia branch of the American Institute of Electrical Engineering and member of the university's Trigon engineering society. She was also president of her sorority, Chi Omega, and president of the Woman's Student association. In 1939, she became the first woman to graduate from UVA with a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering. She was selected to receive the Algernon Sydney Sullivan Award, which the university gives to two graduating students each year "for excellence of character and service to humanity".

Career

Joyner in 1964

The NACA Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory (later the Langley Research Center) hired Joyner as a junior civil engineering aide in September 1939, making her their first woman engineer. At the time, the organization was expanding its aeronautics research and development in the time before World War II. Her career developed quickly, as she shifted her focus from civil to electrical engineering. Among her responsibilities was the management of the electrical systems for several wind tunnels, including supersonic wind tunnels, large, expensive facilities important to testing aircraft. She continued working at Langley for more than three decades, continuing at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) when it replaced NACA in 1958. By the 1960s, she achieved the title Branch Head of the Facilities Cost Estimating Branch, Office of Engineering and Technical Services.

Over the course of her career at NACA/NASA, Joyner made contributions to research on aeronautics, supersonic flight, and the design of airfoils. Her work had implications for military and commercial flight applications, and she was influential in the production of aircraft design standards that continued to be relevant many years later. She retired from NASA in May 1971.

Joyner was active in engineering organizations and societies. She was a member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and Honorary Life Member of the Engineers Club of the Virginia Peninsula.

Personal life

O'Brien married Upshur T. Joyner, a physicist who also worked at NACA/NASA, best known for his contributions at the NASA Langley Landing Loads Dynamics Facility. Together they had two children: a son named Upshur O'Brien Joyner, who died of leukemia at the age of 47 in 1990, and a daughter, Kate Bailey. In 1971, both Kitty and Upshur retired. They lived in Poquoson, Virginia.

In addition to her professional and personal engineering activities, she was a member of the P.E.O. Sisterhood, Daughters of the American Colonists, and United Daughters of the Confederacy, which in 1992 presented her with the Winnie Davis Award, recognizing exceptional dedication or contributions to the organization. She also served as first regent and organizer for the Charles Parish Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, which named an annual scholarship after her.

Joyner died on August 16, 1993, at the age of 77. Her husband died a few months later, in November 1993, at the age of 85.

References

Kitty O'Brien Joyner (11 Juli 1916 – 16 Agustus 1993) adalah seorang insinyur listrik Amerika di National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) yang kemudian berubah nama menjadi National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) pada 1958.

Joyner merupakan wanita pertama yang lulus dari program teknik Universitas Virginia pada 1939 dan mendapatkan penghargaan Algernon Sydney Sullivan. Ketika bekerja di NACA, dia juga menjadi insinyur wanita pertama di organisasi tersebut, yang akhirnya naik ke jabatan Kepala Cabang dan mengelola beberapa terowongan anginnya. Karyanya berkontribusi pada penelitian tentang aeronautika, penerbangan supersonik, airfoil, dan standar desain pesawat.

Kehidupan awal dan pendidikan

Kitty Wingfield O'Brien lahir di Charlottesville, Virginia, pada 11 Juli 1916. Ayahnya adalah seorang insinyur. Hal tersebut menginspirasi seorang Joyner untuk mengejar karier yang sama. Setelah SMA, dia ingin kuliah di University of Virginia (UVA). Undang-undang negara bagian Virginia telah mengizinkan perempuan untuk menghadiri universitas negeri sejak tahun 1920, tetapi UVA menerapkan beberapa persyaratan bagi perempuan yang ingin mendaftar sehingga mengharuskan mereka bersekolah di tempat lain selama dua tahun pertama dan sudah berusia 20 tahun. Persyaratan ini masih berlaku pada tahun 1935, Kitty akhirnya kuliah di Sweet Briar College selama dua tahun antara tahun 1935 dan 1937, kemudian berhasil mengajukan petisi ke UVA untuk mendapatkan izin masuk.

Peluang wanita untuk bekerja dilapangan jauh berbeda dengan laki-laki. Joyner mengatakan kepada reporter Miami News bahwa "dia selalu berharap dia laki-laki sehingga dia bisa mengikuti profesinya". Reporter menulis tentang dia ketika dia berada di Florida menghadiri konferensi teknik di mana makalahnya "Fluoresensi, Cahaya Masa Depan" memenangkan tempat kedua di antara makalah mahasiswa lain. Meskipun reporter mengatakan bahwa "teknik elektro hampir tidak dianggap sebagai profesi feminin", O'Brien menggunakan kesempatan itu untuk berbicara tentang bagaimana teknik menghadirkan peluang besar bagi wanita dan anak perempuan.

Selama di UVA, dia adalah sekretaris Institut Teknik Elektro Amerika cabang Virginia dan anggota masyarakat teknik Trigon universitas. Dia juga presiden mahasiswinya, Chi Omega, dan presiden asosiasi Pelajar Wanita. Pada tahun 1939, ia menjadi wanita pertama yang lulus dari UVA dengan gelar Bachelor of Science di bidang teknik elektro. Dia terpilih untuk menerima Penghargaan Algernon Sydney Sullivan, yang diberikan universitas kepada dua mahasiswa yang lulus setiap tahun "untuk keunggulan karakter dan pelayanan kepada kemanusiaan".

Karier

NACA mempekerjakan Joyner sebagai asisten teknik sipil junior pada September 1939 dan hal tersebut menjadikannya insinyur wanita pertama mereka. Pada saat itu, organisasi tersebut memperluas penelitian dan pengembangan aeronautikanya sebelum Perang Dunia II. Karirnya berkembang pesat, saat dia mengalihkan fokusnya dari teknik sipil ke teknik elektro. Pekerjaan di NACA ialah pengelolaan sistem kelistrikan untuk beberapa terowongan angin, termasuk terowongan angin supersonik, fasilitas besar dan mahal yang penting untuk menguji pesawat. Ia terus bekerja di Langley selama lebih dari tiga dekade, melanjutkan di National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) ketika menggantikan NACA pada tahun 1958. Pada 1960-an, dia mencapai gelar Kepala Cabang Cabang Perkiraan Biaya Fasilitas, Kantor Teknik dan Layanan Teknis.

Selama kariernya di NACA/NASA, Joyner memberikan kontribusi untuk penelitian tentang aeronautika, penerbangan supersonik, dan desain airfoil. Karyanya memiliki implikasi untuk aplikasi penerbangan militer dan komersial, dan dia berpengaruh dalam produksi standar desain pesawat yang terus relevan bertahun-tahun kemudian. Dia pensiun dari NASA pada Mei 1971. Joyner aktif dalam organisasi dan masyarakat teknik. Dia adalah anggota Institut Insinyur Listrik dan Elektronik (IEEE) dan Anggota Kehormatan Klub Insinyur di Semenanjung Virginia.

Kehidupan pribadi

Kitty O'Brien Joyner menikah dengan Upshur T. Joyner, seorang fisikawan yang juga bekerja di NACA/NASA, Langley Landing Loads Dynamics Facility dan memiliki dua anak: seorang putra bernama Upshur O'Brien Joyner, yang meninggal karena leukemia pada usia 47 tahun pada tahun 1990, dan seorang putri, Kate Bailey.

Pada 1971, Kitty dan Upshur pensiun atau sudah tidak lagi bekerja dan mereka tinggal di Poquoson, Virginia. Selain kegiatan teknik profesional dan pribadinya, dia adalah anggota P.E.O. Sisterhood, Daughters of the American Colonists, dan United Daughters of the Confederacy, yang pada tahun 1992 memberinya Penghargaan Winnie Davis, mengakui dedikasi atau kontribusi yang luar biasa kepada organisasi. Dia juga menjabat sebagai wali pertama dan penyelenggara untuk Bab Paroki Charles dari Putri Revolusi Amerika, yang dinamai beasiswa tahunan setelah dia.