Winifred Collins

Winifred Quick Collins (November 26, 1911 – May 5, 1999) was Chief of Naval Personnel for Women in the United States Navy, and Director of the WAVES (Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service) from 1957 to 1962.

Early life She was born Winifred Mary Redden, in Great Falls, Montana, United States. She was the third child of four of Daniel A. Redden and Mary Winifred Redden (maiden name Farrell). When Collins was 10 years old, her family moved to Missoula, Montana, to run a hotel. A year later her parents divorced. When she was 11, she contracted a mild case of polio, but fully recovered without suffering a lasting disability.

Military career Dr. Ada Comstock, the president of Radcliffe College when Collins was educated there, sat on a committee that was looking into the idea of recruiting women into the US Navy. She contacted Collins in June 1942 with a suggestion that she might apply for a commission. On August 4 of that year, Collins graduated from the first female commissioning class held at Smith College, Northampton, Massachusetts, and was commissioned with the rank of ensign on August 28, 1942.

After the month-long training at Smith College, the first female Commissioned Officers of the United States Navy were sworn in; Collins was one of them. In 1951, she was then sent to Stanford University by the Navy for post graduate education and graduated in 1952 with a Master of Education. She then became the Assistant Director of Naval Personnel The Navy League have an award named after her; the Captain Winifred Quick Collins Award. In 1977, she was elected as the first female director of Corn Products International, a global consumer food products operation. Further Navy related roles she filled include; the first female trustee of the United States Naval Academy Foundation, in 1977; the first women named in the Navy League's Hall of Fame in 1990.

Personal life Collins was married twice. She was married after she graduated from college to Roy T. Quick. Their marriage lasted from 1937 to 1941 when they divorced.