Marjorie Elsa Bell

Marjorie Bell BSc, GradIEE, CEng, MIISO, MIOSH, HonMWES (26 December 1906 – 10 June 2001) was a British electrical engineer and factory inspector. Bell had a number of jobs and ran her own clothing factory before becoming the first woman to study electronic engineering at the Northampton Institute. After graduation, she became a lecturer and demonstrator of electrical appliances. She became a factory inspector in 1936 and worked across the country, receiving a medal for her work during the Second World War. Afterwards Bell worked as an inspector in Mandatory Palestine at the time of the 1947–1948 civil war. Upon her return to the United Kingdom she was promoted to district inspector and received the Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Medal.

In retirement Bell sat on numerous industrial safety committees. She participated in the first European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardization working group on electrical toy safety and became the first woman ever to chair a British Standards Institution technical standards committee. Bell was a chartered engineer, a graduate member of the Institution of Electrical Engineers, a member of the Institution of Industrial Safety Officers and a member of the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health. She was an active member of the Women's Engineering Society, sitting on many of its committees and serving as president in 1956–57.

Early life Marjorie Bell was born on 26 December 1906 in Edmonton, Middlesex. She came from a modest family, her father and two of her brothers were engineering fitters. Shortly afterwards Bell founded her own clothing factory. In the course of her studies she spent a term and a holiday break working at the research laboratories of the General Electric Corporation.

As a woman Bell was forced to retire at the age of 60 under a civil service policy of the time.

Bell was a graduate member of the Institution of Electrical Engineers and a member of the Institution of Industrial Safety Officers and Institution of Occupational Safety and Health. She became a chartered engineer and was appointed an honorary member of the Women's Engineering Society in 1972.

In her spare time Bell was a member of Soroptimist International, a bee keeper and looked after two allotments.

She died in Enfield, London on 10 June 2001. Bell left her body to science and had a non-religious funeral.