Researching famous women in electronics led me in many directions and specialties, like mechanical engineering and computer science, and would easily turn this rather ambitious blog post into a book! For this piece, I focus on three women who excelled in the field of electrical engineering. In a later post, I will give a nod to some of the other incredible women in related fields that I discovered along the way. I by no means promise an exhaustive list, so please, add comments with women whom you would like to recognize!
In the words of Heddy Lamarr when notified she was receiving the Pioneer Award by the Electronic Frontier Foundation in 1997 (for a 1942 patent), “it’s about time,” so lets get started…
Edith Clarke: A Life of Firsts
![Famous women in electronics: Edith Clarke](https://blog.samtec.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/300px-Edith_Clarke_portrait_CreditETHW.jpg)
In 1919, Clarke became the first woman to earn an MS in electrical engineering from MIT (photo credit: ETHW). Probably unsurprisingly, despite her MIT degree, she could not find a position in her field. So, Edith took a job as supervisor of computers for General Electric (GE) in the Turbine Engineering Department.
During her tenure at GE, she invented the Clarke calculator. This simple graphical device solved equations that included electric current, voltage, and impedance in power transmission lines 10X faster than previous methods. By 1921, Clarke still could not get a position as an engineer, so she took a position teaching physics at the Constantinople Women’s College in Turkey. The next year, GE hired Clarke as an electrical engineer.
In 1945, Edith Clarke retired from General Electric. But she wasn’t done yet! Two years later she became the first female professor of EE in the US by joining the faculty at the University of Texas. She retired from the university in 1957.
Here are some other notable achievements for Clarke: first woman to deliver a paper at the American Institute of Electrical Engineers (AIEE; which later merged with another organization to become IEEE) annual meeting (1926), AIEE Best Regional Paper Prize (1932), AIEE Best National Paper Prize (1941), wrote a textbook in the field of power engineering, Circuit Analysis of A-C Power Systems (1943), Society of Women Engineers Achievement Award (1945), first woman engineer to achieve professional standing in Tau Beta Pi (1948), inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame (2015).
Lynn Conway: Computer Scientist and Electrical Engineer
![women in electronics: Lynn Conway](https://blog.samtec.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/300px-Lynn_Conway_photobyCharlesRogers.jpg)
Holding a BS and MS in EE from Columbia, Conway is perhaps best known for her invention of dimensionless scalable design rules for chip design as well as her work in very-large-scale integration (VLSI). Her work is seen as a major enabler of modern computer and microelectronic technology. Conway and Carver Mead wrote the textbook Introduction to VLSI Systems (1979) which became a bestseller and was implemented at many universities. At the time, she worked at Xerox PARC and was a visiting professor at MIT. She is also well known for her work in promoting transgender rights, diversity, and inclusion in the tech industry.
Conway (image credit Charles Rogers) left Xerox PARC for DARPA and an opportunity to work in a research program studying high-performance computing, autonomous systems technology, and intelligent weapons technology. In 1985 Conway joined the faculty of the University of Michigan as a professor of electrical engineering and computer science as well as serving as associate dean of engineering. She retired in 1998.
Erna Hoover, Ph.D.: Telecommunications Pioneer
![woman in electronics: Dr Erna Hoover](https://blog.samtec.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/ernahoover.jpg)
With a PhD in philosophy and mathematics from Yale, Erna Hoover invented a telephony switching computer program to keep calls connecting during peak times (its principles are still in use today). “I designed the executive program for handling situations when there are too many calls, to keep it operating efficiently without hanging up on itself. Basically it was designed to keep the machine from throwing up its hands and going berserk,” said Hoover in a 2008 article in the New Jersey Star-Ledger. Her 1971 patent for this technology was among one of the first software patents ever issued.
Later, she became the first woman supervisor of a technical department at Bell Labs. In 2008, she was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame, and she was awarded the 2023 Pioneer Award from NCWIT for her work. We will let Erna have the last word here: “When I was hired, the glass ceiling was somewhere between the basement and the sub-basement.”
Women in Electronics Today
The momentum to celebrate and nurture women in electronics continues. Last month, Electronics Weekly held its first annual Women Leaders in Electronics Awards, and Samtec sponsored their Electronics Engineer of the Year Award.
![women leaders in electronics awards 2024](https://blog.samtec.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/WomenInElectronicsAwards24-1024x683.jpg)
I recently spoke with Electronics Weekly editor Caroline Hayes about the inspiration for these awards. She shared that the idea for the awards was born out of a series of profile interviews she conducted over the last few years. Despite the differences in ages, locations, and career paths of her subjects, they all cited one mentor—parent, teacher, or boss—who recognized their talent, nurtured it, and/or provided direction and support.
Award entrants can self-nominate or be nominated by colleagues and are then reviewed by a panel of judges. The award organizers tried to reflect a wide range of skills, from electronics design excellence to leadership. In 2024, nominations came from the US, Asia, and Europe across all the categories. Hayes reports that they had a fantastic response to the awards both in terms of the caliber of the nominees and also at the Awards celebration held 23 April 2024 at the De Vere Grand Connaught Rooms, Covent Garden in the UK.
“As well as promoting the fantastic contribution of women in our industry, the awards are also intended to show their male colleagues and managers how valuable women’s contributions are in many areas of the business,” notes Hayes. “It is also wonderful to show young girls what their future could hold and to show young boys how they can expect to work alongside women in this field and to value the unique take a woman may have on problem-solving.”
The awards will be held again in 2025.
More Information
Empowering Women into STEM Fields – The Samtec Blog
Famous Women in Technology: 10 Female Technology Inventors To Know | BizTech Magazine
15 of the most important women in tech who changed the world | Mashable
Celebrating the Mothers of Technology | Mr. Electric Blog (mrelectric.com)
51 Female Inventors and Inventions That Changed the World – Interesting Engineering
Leave a Reply