Seven Decades of First

Discover the journey of women in Georgia Tech’s College of Engineering. From the women enrolling in 1952 to groundbreaking leadership roles today, our timeline highlights key milestones that have shaped a more inclusive and innovative future. Dive into history with us:

1952

USG Allows Admission of Women

In a 7–5 vote, the Board of Regents approves the admission of women to Tech — though on a limited full-time basis and restricted to architecture, engineering, and applied mathematics. The admission applies only to white women.

1952

First Women Enroll

Elizabeth Herndon and Diane Michel Clarke enroll at Tech’s main campus. They are the first full-time undergraduate women, and Clarke is the first woman to major in engineering (industrial engineering). Amid a mixed reception, they band together, creating a personal code of conduct to rise above what is called the resulting “hullabaloo.”

1953

First EE Student

Shirley Clements Mewborn enrolls as the first woman to major in electrical engineering at Tech.

1954 – 58

Making History Across Campus

Paula Stevenson Humphreys, TEXT 1958, a textile engineering major, records a string of firsts for women at Tech: drum majorette, student council member, Ramblin’ Reck Club member, and more.

1956

First Women Graduate

Mewborn, EE 1956, and Clarke, IE 1956, graduate — making history as the first women to earn undergraduate degrees at Tech.

1958

SWE is Founded

Maryly Van Leer Peck (daughter of Ella and Blake Van Leer) establishes Tech’s chapter of the Society of Women Engineers, the first professional club for female students.

1958

Using the GI Bill

After four years’ service in the Air Force, Martha Moss Quo, TEXT 1958, M.S. TEXT 1960, is the first woman to enroll at Tech by exercising her rights under the GI Bill. Though her plan is to study chemistry, that major is not yet open to women, and she instead studies textile engineering.

1966

First Minority Woman Enrolls

Sally Lam Woo, CHE 1966, who immigrated from Hong Kong at the age of 15, becomes the first minority woman graduate of the College of Engineering. While enrolled full-time, she lives with 10 other women at Ella Van Leer’s home in an enclosed porch — because Tech offers no housing for women.

1967

First Black Women Enroll

Brenda Gullatt Joseph, EES 1976; Grace Hammonds, M.S. MATH 1973; Tawana Miller, IM 1976; Adesola Kujoure Nurudeen, CHE 1978, M.S. MET 1980, Ph.D. CHE 1983; Donna Smith Palms, CHE 1974; and Clemmie Bray Whatley M.S. MATH 1973, become the first Black Women to enroll at Tech.

1968

A Woman Joins the Faculty

Helen Grenga joins the metallurgy program as the first woman faculty member in engineering in 1968. The Helen Grenga Outstanding Woman Engineer Award honors her legacy as a teacher, mentor, and leader.

1970

First Woman to Earn an Engineering Ph.D.

Aerospace engineering student Mary Anne Jackson Wright becomes the first woman to receive a Ph.D. in engineering at Tech.

1974

First Black Woman to Earn a Bachelor’s

Donna Smith Palms, CHE 1974, becomes the first Black woman to graduate with a degree in engineering. She came to Tech as a dual degree student, also earning a science degree from Spelman College.

1978

Leading the Student Body

Amy Wepking Opfer, ME 1981, becomes Tech’s first woman president of SGA.

1981

ANAK Elects a Woman Leader

Helen Gould, IE 1982, is the first woman elected to lead the ANAK Society, Tech’s oldest and highest honor society. She’s also the first woman elected student body vice president. Gould leads a student committee that successfully lobbies to increase annual state funding for the Institute.

1982

Another Woman Joins the Faculty

Jane Ammons marks several firsts: the first woman to earn an IE Ph.D. and the first woman faculty member in ISyE. (She’s the second woman engineering faculty member)

1984

Driving the Wreck

Lisa Volmar, IE 1986, is the first woman to drive the Ramblin’ Wreck.

1994

WIE is Founded

The Women in Engineering program is founded at the College of Engineering. The program aims to increase the number of women students in engineering, to empower them as leaders, and to improve outcomes for all students. In recent decades, Tech annually leads the country in graduating women engineers.

2011

First School Chair

Jane Ammons, Ph.D. IE 1982, becomes chair of the H. Milton Stewart School of ISyE, the first woman to lead a School in the College of Engineering.

2025

History Continues

For the first time, three of the College’s eight schools are chaired by women: Pinar Keskinocak in ISyE, Alyssa Panitch in BME, and Natalie Stingelin in MSE.