Dorolyn Lines

Dorolyn Lines (née Boyd; October 24, 1901 – January 17, 1975) was an American engineer known for her design of canal and irrigation systems in California, Yuma, the Missouri River basin, the Columbia River basin, the Lower Rio Grande, and Oregon. She was honored with a Certificate of Merit from the Bureau of Reclamation in 1966, and was remembered for her work in raising the status of women engineers.

Early life and family alt=Image of a typical American main street in the city of Baldwin, Kansas. Dorolyn (née Boyd) Lines was born in Baldwin, Kansas, but moved to Colorado as a child. However, by 1925 they had moved to 1235 S. Washington St. in Denver. Marion would later die by an accident on April 11, 1934. He was buried Evergreen Cemetery in Colorado Springs. Lines had three daughters. She also served as an instructor at the school for one year, but declined an associate professorship when she decided to get married.

Regarding her college career at University of Kansas, on January 2, 1921, Lines was mentioned in a published news article in the Topeka Daily Capital under the heading, "Women Are Pre-Empting All Educational Fields: Law, Medicine, Even Machinery Attract Fair Students.": This year fourteen women are enrolled in the school of engineering. One woman, Dorolyn Boyd, sophomore from Colorado Springs, is taking mechanical engineering. alt=Shows a black and white panorama of buildings on a campus in an open plain. Panorama of the University of Kansas campus in the early 1900s.

Career Following the death of her husband, Lines took a position as a canals and irrigation engineer in the Canals Branch of Designs and Structures, U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. and attended the 10th Annual Convention of the Society of Women Engineers in Seattle, Washington.

In preserved correspondence from 1958 with the Employment Committee Chair for the Society of Women Engineers, Ruth L. Shafer, Lines strongly advocated for female chemical engineering students who were being rejected from employment opportunities in engineering as they were deemed to be "too dangerous." Lines was a charter member of the Rocky Mountain (Denver) Section.

Lines is buried in Evergreen Cemetery, in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

Dorolyn Lines Scholarship To honor her legacy as a trailblazer for women in heavy industry, the Society of Women Engineers (SWE) Rocky Mountain Section established the Dorolyn Lines Scholarship in 1990. The scholarship is awarded annually to collegiate women who have demonstrated engineering achievement and leadership, specifically targeting rising juniors and seniors at ABET-accredited universities in Colorado and Wyoming. Recent Recipients The scholarship continues to be awarded annually to students who embody Lines' technical excellence. Year Recipient Institution Academic Focus 2024 Jessica Tomshack Colorado School of Mines Mechanical Engineering 2023 Madelyn Schmidt University of Colorado Boulder Mechanical Engineering 2022 Jessica Woodard University of Colorado Boulder MS in Mechanical Engineering 2021 Mia Miller University of Colorado Boulder Mechanical Engineering 2020 Leila J. G. Smith University of Wyoming Mechanical Engineering