Helen Tippett

Helen Margaret Tippett (née O'Donnell; 23 March 1933 – 11 February 2004) was an architecture academic in Australia and New Zealand. She was the first professor of architecture in Australasia, and the first woman to be a dean at Victoria University of Wellington. In 1989, she became the first woman to serve as president of the New Zealand Institute of Architects.

Early life, family and education Tippet was born Helen Margaret O'Donnell in Warragul, Victoria, Australia, on 23 March 1933. She was educated at Geelong Church of England Girls' Grammar School, The Hermitage, She graduated with a Bachelor of Architecture (Honours) in 1954, and later completed a Master of Business Administration degree at Melbourne in 1974. The couple married and they lived in Alice Springs for several years where George was a medical officer in charge of the Royal Flying Doctor Service, and then in London and Beirut where George pursued a career as an anaesthesiologist. The couple had three children, and later divorced.

Tippett's career in academia began in Melbourne in 1969, where she taught the course 'Design and Practice and Management'. In 1979, she moved to Victoria University of Wellington in New Zealand, where she was dean of Architecture at Victoria University of Wellington from 1980 to 1983 during the architecture school's early years, helping to set its tone alongside the first dean, Gerd Block. In this position she was the first woman professor of architecture in Australasia, and Victoria's first woman dean. and was awarded a leadership award by the Master Builders Federation in 1990.

Death and legacy Tippett died in Wellington on 11 February 2004. The same year, an archive of material collected and produced by Tippett was transferred to Victoria University of Wellington.

The National Association of Women in Construction (New Zealand) gives an annual award in her name, to a person or organisation who has "furthered the interests of women in the construction industry".