Mary Chance VanScyoc

Mary Chance VanScyoc (December 26, 1919 – February 9, 2011) was an air traffic controller in the United States. She was one of the first women, and often considered the very first civilian woman, to become an air traffic controller when she started in June 1942. VanScyoc first flew in an airplane, with Clyde Cessna,

VanScyoc attended Wichita State University as the first woman aviation student at the school. VanScyoc began working the "B" board in the Denver tower which communicated with air bases, flight stations, airline operators and pilots with filed flight plans. She took part in training assistant controllers and also earned her flight instructor rating in November 1944. In 1945, VanScyoc had to shut down all traffic coming into the airport when a hangar caught fire. In 1996, she released a book about her life and experiences called A Lifetimes of Chances . In 2002, VanScyoc was inducted into the Kansas Aviation Hall of Fame.