Elsie Eaves


Elsie Eaves was a pioneering American female engineer, the first female associate member of the American Society of Civil Engineers, and a founding member of the American Association of Cost Engineers.

Personal Life

Eaves was born in Idaho Springs, Colorado and earned her civil engineering degree at the University of Colorado at Boulder in 1920. At the age of 22, she was the first woman to earn a degree in civil engineering from the University of Colorado at Boulder. Eaves began her engineering experience before she received her university degree.

Career

Eaves was a draftsman for the United States Bureau of Public Roads in Denver, Colorado, and then the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad Company.
She joined the Women's Engineering Society in 1925, and continued as a member throughout her career.
In 1926 Eaves started working for McGraw-Hill in New York City for the Engineering News-Record Department. She was also a publication and sales manager of the McGraw-Hill Construction Daily. In 1927, she was the first woman admitted to full membership to the American Society of Civil Engineers. In 1945, she became the manager of Business News.
In 1929, Eaves originated and compiled the first national inventory of municipal and industrial sewage disposal facilities. Next, she compiled statistics on needed construction, which helped revitalize the construction industry during the Great Depression. After World War II, Eaves organized and directed ENR’s measurement of “Post War Planning” by the construction industry that was used as the official progress report of the industry.
In total, she was associated with McGraw-Hill's Engineering News-Record, a weekly trade publication, for 37 years.
She retired in 1963, but continued practicing as an adviser to the National Commission on Urban Affairs on the subject of housing costs. She advised the International Executive Service Corps about construction costs in Iran. In 1972, she wrote the obituary for fellow engineer, Ruth Shafer, chair of the first International Conference of Women Engineers and Scientists.
In 1974, she received the George Norlin Silver Medal, the highest alumni award given by the University of Colorado and, in 1979, she was the first woman to receive an honorary lifetime membership to the American Association of Cost Engineers. Elsie Eaves died March 27, 1983 in Roslyn, New York, aged 84.

Achievements