Bertha Lamme [1869 – 1943]
Bertha Lamme was born on her family’s farm near Springfield, OH in 1893. After she graduated from Olive Branch High School in 1889, she followed in her brother’s footsteps and enrolled at Ohio State. She graduated in 1893 with a degree in Mechanical Engineering with a specialty in Electricity. Her thesis was titled “An Analysis of Tests of a Westinghouse Railway Generator.”
Career In 1893, Bertha Lamme became the country’s first female engineer when she took a job at Westinghouse Electric Corporation. She joined her brother, who was a rising star at Westinghouse. Bertha spent 12 years with Westinghouse and would have worked on some bigger transportation system projects. Her brother was notable for designing the giant generators at Niagara Falls.
As progressive as Westinghouse was at the time for employing a woman, it was still standard for ladies to retire when they married. When Bertha wed a fellow engineer, she left the company. Bertha marred Russell Feicht in 1905, and they had one child, Florence, born in 1910, who became a physicist for the US Bureau of Mines.
Scholarship The Bertha Lamme Memorial Scholarship was established in 2019 with remaining SWE Region G funds. SWE members in any major and in their undergraduate or graduate studies are eligible to apply.
Number Available: 1
Class: Sophomore, Junior, Senior, graduate
Major: Any
Amount: $1,250
