Kate Gleason
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Kate Gleason (November 25, 1865 - January 9, 1933) was an American engineer and businesswoman known both for being a revolutionary in the predominantly male field of Engineering and for her Philanthropy.
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[edit] Early life and Gleason Works
Kate Gleason was born the daughter of William and Ellen Gleason of Rochester, NY. Her father was the owner of a machine tool company, later named Gleason Works, which later became (and still is) one of the most important makers of gear-cutting machine tools in the world. At the age of 12 she began working for her father. She was the first woman to be admitted to study engineering at Cornell University in Ithaca, NY, although she was unable to complete her studies at Cornell due to her required presence in the factory. She continued her studies upon returning to Rochester at the Mechanics Institute, later renamed Rochester Institute of Technology. She was actively involved as the treasurer as well as saleswoman for Gleason Works.
Fred H. Colvin described Kate Gleason in his memoirs as "a kind of Madame Curie of machine tools […] Kate spent her youth learning her father's business from the ground up, both in the shop and in the field, so that when she branched out for herself about 1895 as a saleswoman for her father's gear-cutting machines, she knew as much as any man in the business."[1]
[edit] Life after leaving the Gleason Works
Due to conflicts with her family she left Gleason Works in 1913 and found work at the Ingle Machining Company. She was the first woman elected to full membership in the American Society of Mechanical Engineers and represented the society at the World Power Conference in Germany. In 1918, she was appointed the president of First National Bank of East Rochester while the previous President was enlisted in World War I. She used this position to further her humanitarian efforts in Rochester, starting eight companies, including a construction company that built houses for the middle class. Upon the return of the president she became a supporter of Women's Suffrage, befriending fellow Rochester resident Susan B. Anthony.
[edit] Death and legacy
She died January 9, 1933 of pneumonia and is interred in Riverside Cemetery in Rochester. She left much of her $1.4 million estate to institutions in the Rochester area, including libraries, parks, and the Rochester Institute of Technology. The Kate Gleason College of Engineering at RIT is named in her honor, and her bust stands proudly in the front entrance. Gleason Works is still in operation today and retains a strong connection with RIT.
[edit] References
- ^ Colvin, Fred H. (1947). Sixty Years with Men and Machines. New York and London: McGraw-Hill, p. 73.
[edit] External links
- Biographical articles:
