Shattering Ceilings & Laying Foundations: Women Who Transformed the AEC Space

Emily Warren Roebling (1843-1903) 

Emily Roebling was a world traveler, lecturer, student, wife, and mother. Roebling was told that women did not need higher education, as their sole job was homemaking. Despite this, she studied math and science and even obtained a law degree at 56. Roebling’s engineering career started when she met her father-in-law, John A. Roebling, as he researched technical issues relating to New York’s East River bridge between Brooklyn and Manhattan. 

Her father-in-law died of tetanus before they could begin the construction of the Brooklyn Bridge. Shortly after construction began, her husband fell ill from decompression sickness while in the bridge pier caissons beneath the river’s surface. To ensure the success of the Brooklyn Bridge project, Roebling would take detailed notes on what her husband needed to do while also studying the technical issues on her own. She absorbed knowledge on stress analysis, cable construction, and calculations of catenary curves. Every day, she would travel to the project site and relay her husband’s instructions to the team and address their questions and concerns. Roebling’s leadership saw the project to completion, and many suspected that Emily herself was the brains behind everything. The Brooklyn Bridge opened in 1883, and Emily was honored with riding with President Chester Arthur across. 

Lillian Moller-Gilbreth (1878-1972) 

Lillian Moller-Gilbreth was the definition of a Renaissance Woman. Earning her PhD in Applied Psychology in 1915, she and her husband, Frank Gilbreth, focused a lot of their time on analyzing and solving problems for worker efficiency. They employed film, an innovative technology at the time, to analyze various tasks and suggest improvements and often tested these improvements on their own family of 12 children. She is well known for her innovative kitchen designs and appliance patents—most notably the addition of shelves to refrigerators and the foot pedal on the kitchen trash can. She also studied time-motion to determine the most efficient way for workers to execute tasks. 1924, Frank was on his way to a conference to deliver a speech but suddenly passed away. Lillian arranged for childcare, then traveled and gave the speech in his place. From then on, Gilbreth continued consulting to provide for her family 

Gilbreth was highly sought after by the government for her consulting work during the Great Depression and World War II, most notably by President Hoover. She became the first woman to be inducted in the Society for Industrial Engineers in 1921, as well as the first woman to receive the Hoover Medal in 1966 for her public service as an industrial engineer. Her children later authored books about their childhood experience—Hollywood adapted these books into movies, Cheaper by the Dozen (1950) and Belles on Their Toes (1952). 

Elsie Eaves (1898-1983) 

The first woman to become a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers in 1927 and a founding member of the Society of Women Engineers (SWE) in 1950, Elsie Eaves is considered a role model for many women in the engineering world. Eaves discusses her career and the evolution of women in the construction and engineering space an article she wrote in U.S. Woman Engineer in June of 1983, citing the support of multiple men ranging from her high school teacher, college professors and deans to colleagues and managers she worked with along the way as one of the reasons for her success in her career. 

Her career began with the U.S. Bureau of Public Roads, Colorado State Highway, and the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad, but new work was dwindling. She decided to move to New York and pivot her career—that’s when she joined the Engineering News-Record (ENR) as assistant manager for market surveys and was later promoted to director. During the Great Depression, Eaves survived layoffs and economic uncertainty in ENR. In a time before computers, Eaves crafted a database to track and report construction statistics and post-war planning in the construction industry. This database made Eaves one of the first women in construction to master new data advances within the industry and was used by the ASCE and Committee of Economic Development to start post-WWII projects.  

Norma Merrick Sklarek (1926 – 2012) 

Norma Merrick Sklarek was destined for architectural greatness at an early age. With support from a family of lifelong learners, Sklarek mastered the art of drafting by the age of 12. She attended Columbia University’s School of Architecture and graduated in 1950. Sklarek faced adversity as a woman of color both at school and in her career, but she met those challenges with intense resolve and persistence. Many architecture firms rejected her application, citing her identity as a black woman as the reason—but she didn’t let that stop her. Instead, she found creative ways to forge her way.  

Sklarek started as a junior draft with New York City’s Department of Public Works. This role was a crucial step in her larger plan as she used it to perfect her drafting and design skills while also obtaining an understanding of architectural and engineering projects, paving the way for future achievements like being the first Black woman to become a licensed architect in New York. Following this achievement, Sklarek moved to Los Angeles and joined Gruen and Associates, where she contributed to iconic structures like the Pacific Design Center, dubbed the “Blue Whale” for its size and distinct blue color. In 1980, she cofounded Siegle, Sklarek, Diamond—the largest woman-owned architecture firm of the time. That same year, Sklarek broke down another barrier by being the first Black woman to receive the honor of fellowship by the American Institute of Architects (AIA).