Elizabeth Muriel Gregory MacGill, known as Elsie MacGill, was a Canadian aeronautical engineer, born in 1905 and died in 1980, who in 1927 became the first Canadian woman to earn a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering and in 1929 the first woman in North America to earn a master's degree in aeronautical engineering. In 1942, as chief engineer at Canadian Car and Foundry, she became the first woman in the world to hold the title of chief aeronautical engineer, overseeing wartime production of 1,451 Hawker Hurricane fighter aircraft for the Allies and earning the nickname Queen of the Hurricanes. She later served as a technical adviser to the International Civil Aviation Organization, became in 1947 the first woman to chair a United Nations committee, and sat on Canada's Royal Commission on the Status of Women from 1967 to 1970.
Facts
In the Other Atlases
- Also in Geography Atlas: Canada, nationality there.
Sources
1. Elsie MacGill (Wikipedia)
WikipediaLead paragraph, sentences 1-2Quote, Lead paragraph, sentences 1-2
Elizabeth Muriel Gregory MacGill OC (March 27, 1905, November 4, 1980), known as the "Queen of the Hurricanes", was a Canadian engineer. She was chief aeronautical engineer at Canadian Car and Foundry (CC&F) in Fort William, Ontario during the Second World War.
Frequently Asked Questions
What did Elsie MacGill do at Canadian Car and Foundry, and why was she called the Queen of the Hurricanes?
She led production of the Hawker Hurricane at Canadian Car and Foundry, where 1,451 were built by 1943.
In 1942 MacGill was hired as Chief Aeronautical Engineer at Canadian Car and Foundry, becoming the first woman in the world to hold such a position. When the Fort William factory was selected to build the Hawker Hurricane fighter for the Royal Air Force, it had to expand from about 500 workers to 4,500 by war's end, half of them women. She was responsible for tooling up production for more than 25,000 precision parts that had to be interchangeable with Hurricanes made in the U.K., and for solutions to let the aircraft operate in winter, including de-icing controls and a system for fitting skis. By the time the line shut down in 1943 the company had produced 1,451 Hurricanes, and her role made her famous as the Queen of the Hurricanes.
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