Betty Lou Bailey

Betty Lou Bailey (1929 – 2007) was a General Electric Company mechanical engineer from the United States. She held a patent for an aircraft variable exhaust nozzle. The invention operated so that one would vary both the throat and the exit diameters for the hot gas flows. In honor of her legacy, the Society of Women Engineers named a scholarship after her. To date, that scholarship is still being distributed to eligible female graduate students who pursue a career in engineering.

Bailey was the first female member of the Engineering Society of Cincinnati. She later served as the chair of its Guidance Committee. Their brother Clark had rejected engineering as a career which both sisters felt was one of the reasons that their father was supportive of young Betty's career choice.

Education

Bailey attended the undergraduate program in mechanical engineering at the University of Illinois a year early, at the age of seventeen. By the time she finished her freshman year, both of Bailey's parents had died. In 1950, Bailey graduated with University Honors. In her graduating class of approximately 700 engineers, she was the only female engineer.

In addition to her work, Bailey started a math tournament in Cincinnati for high school students.

She was the first female member of the Engineering Society of Cincinnati and served as the chair of its Guidance Committee. She has also served on national committees for the National Society of Professional Engineers, the Engineers Joint Council, and the American Society for Engineering Education.

Personal life and death

Bailey was an active environmentalist. She enjoyed sewing. She was active and loved to travel, canoe, cycle, and hike. She walked the entire Appalachian Trail in segments over a few years. Bailey was a member of the Adirondack Mountain Club (ADK). In 2004 she received their highest award for her work in monitoring hydropower applications to the Federal Regulatory Commission. She did work in dam-licensing that helped ensure that sufficient water was released downstream to support river life and water recreation.

Bailey died suddenly on November 13, 2007, during an ADK cycling trip.