Episode 158: Elsie Eaves & SWE
Elsie Eaves was born on May 5, 1898 in Denver, Colorado. She grew up trout fishing, hiking, and target shooting in Idaho Springs, Colorado. She loved math and in high school got a job working for a local mining engineer. She attended the University of Colorado at Boulder to study civil engineering in 1916. During school she was involved in sports and campus groups. She was the first woman to be president of the school’s engineering society on campus. She supported Lou Alta Melton and Hilda Counts Edgecomb in reaching out to engineering schools around the country and starting the American Society of Women Engineers and Architects (ASWEA). She became a member of the group when they organized in 1920. That same year, she was the first woman to graduate from Boulder with a degree in civil engineering. She worked for Crocker and Fisher, a consulting engineering firm. After 6 years, she decided to move to New York City, and got a job at the Engineering News Record in market surveys. Within a year she was the director of the department and became specialized in cost engineering. She collected field research and then wrote up reports about the cost of construction which were then published in the magazine. Eventually was the manager of the business news department with 145 reporters working under her. In 1927 she was the first woman accepted to the American Society of Civil Engineers ASCE. She also went on to be the first woman to become a fellow and life member of ASCE. On May 27 & 28 of 1950, Elsie was one of 60 women engineers and engineering students who went to Cooper Union’s Green Engineering Camp in Ringwood, New Jersey and formally founded the Society of Women Engineers (SWE). Elsie lent her publishing experience becoming the Advisory Editor for the SWE Newsletter. Elsie was on the SWE board of trustees for 15 plus years and was very active in the New York section. She was the public relations chairman for the first International Conference of Women Engineers and Scientists in 1964. In 1963, Elsie retired from ENR at 65. She became a civilian advisor to the National Commission on Urban Affairs on housing costs. She was a car collector and in retirement took up sailing and turned an abandoned German lifeboat into a houseboat. In 1939, she moved to Long Island and renovated her house there over the years. She became the first woman member of the American Association of Cost Engineers and in 1980 she was made the first fellow of SWE. On March 27, 1983 Elsie passed away at 84 years old. The Rocky Mountain section of SWE has a scholarship in honor of her, Hilda, and Lou Alta called the Pioneer Scholarship.
Caryatid: Dr. Yvette E. Pearson
Yvette is a civil engineer. She has a BS in civil engineering and an MS in Chemistry from Southern University and A&M College, a Graduate Certificate in Educational Research Methodology from University Illinois Chicago, and a PhD in Engineering and Applied Science from University of New Orleans. She is a registered Professional Engineer in Louisiana and a program evaluator for the Engineering Accreditation Commission of ABET. She said that she knew very early on that she wanted to teach engineering. She’s been working in engineering education and research for over 25 years. She is the founder and lead consultant of the Pearson Evaluation and Education Research Group (PEER) which aims to advance fairness, access, and opportunity for all in STEM education and practice. She was also an Associate Dean in the Brown School of Engineering at Rice University in Houston and is now the Associate Dean at UT Dallas. She is a fellow of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), and was the inaugural Chair of ASCE’s Members of Society Advancing an Inclusive Culture (MOSAIC), an advisory council on DEI. She helped spearhead ASCE’s Code of Ethics to include DEI as the Vice Chair of the Committee on Diversity and Inclusion. Yvette is also a podcast host for Engineering Change which hopes to ‘re-imagine who we see as engineers and what we see as engineering; de-siloing our approach to academic programs, research, and problem-solving; and fine-tuning organizational conditions so people with different backgrounds and perspectives can contribute fully to outcomes that serve all of society.’
References
“(1946) Elsie Eaves, Portrait.” Walter P. Reuther Library, 16 Sept. 2008, reuther.wayne.edu/node/1534.
“(2305) Lillian Murad, Elsie Eaves, Mary Murphy, Centennial of Engineering.” Walter P. Reuther Library, 11 Sept. 2008, reuther.wayne.edu/node/1385.
“(2427) Participants, 1963 National Convention.” Walter P. Reuther Library, 4 Aug. 2008, reuther.wayne.edu/node/387.
“(2574) Elsie Eaves, SWE Fellow, 1980 National Convention.” Walter P. Reuther Library, 6 Aug. 2008, reuther.wayne.edu/node/521.
“(2601) Lois Graham, Elsie Eaves, Elaine Pitts, 1982 National Convention.” Walter P. Reuther Library, 29 Aug. 2008, reuther.wayne.edu/node/924.
“(30952) SWE Mine Tour, 1963.” Walter P. Reuther Library, 29 Apr. 2014, reuther.wayne.edu/node/11603.
“(31039) Tour, SWE National Convention, Phoenix, 1966.” Walter P. Reuther Library, 30 Mar. 2016, reuther.wayne.edu/node/13270.
“(31180) Elsie Eaves, ICWES III, Turin, Italy, 1971.” Walter P. Reuther Library, 31 Mar. 2016, reuther.wayne.edu/node/13350.
Baker, Nina C. “11: Lou Alta Melton.” Magnificent Women, 5 May 2019, www.magnificentwomen.co.uk/engineer-of-the-week/11-lou-alta-melton.
Eaves, Elsie. “The Changes of One Lifetime.” U.S. Woman Engineer, June 1983.
Eller English, Troy, and Sam East. Tales From the Archives: How Two Trailblazers Cleared a Path for Today’s Women Engineers. episode 253, 26 Mar. 2024. Soundcloud, alltogether.swe.org/2024/03/swe-podcast-tales-from-the-archives.
“Elsie Eaves.” EngineerTeen, www.engineerteen.org/4688/Elsie-Eaves.
“Engineering Change Podcast.” Engineering Change Podcast, engineeringchangepodcast.com.
McCabe, Seabright. “Women Engineers (from SWE’s History) You Should Know.” SWE Magazine, SWE, season-01 2025, swe.org/magazine/women-engineers-from-swes-history-you-should-know.
“Meet Dr. Yvette E. Pearson of Rice University and the PEER Group in Sugar Land.” Voyage Houston, 7 Jan. 2020, voyagehouston.com/interview/meet-dr-yvette-e-pearson-rice-university-peer-group-sugar-land.
Pearson, Yvette E. “About Dr. Pearson.” Dr. Yvette E. Pearson, dryepearson.com/about-1.
Perusek, Anne. “Women Engineering Students: ‘We Can’t Be the Only Ones!’: Swimming Against the Tide -- and Documenting It, Too.” All Together | SWE, 25 May 2017, alltogether.swe.org/2017/05/we-cant-be-the-only-ones.
Perusek, Anne, and Troy Eller English. SWE Stories: Tales From the Archives: SWE Celebrates 70th Anniversary. 27 May 2020. Soundcloud, alltogether.swe.org/2020/05/swe-stories-tales-from-the-archives-swe-celebrates-70th-anniversary.
“The Pioneer Scholarship.” SWE, sites.swe.org/rockymountain/wp-content/uploads/sites/72/2023/11/Pioneer.pdf.
SWE Blog. “Women’s History Month: Elsie Eaves.” All Together | SWE, 2 Mar. 2018, alltogether.swe.org/2018/03/womens-history-month-elsie-eaves.
“Trailblazing Women Engineers Since 1919 -- Discover the Inspiring History of SWE.” SWE, swe.org/75th/timeline/#1919.
Wikipedia contributors. “Elsie Eaves.” Wikipedia, 4 July 2026, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elsie_Eaves.
---. “Lou Alta Melton.” Wikipedia, 10 Mar. 2026, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lou_Alta_Melton.
---. “Society of Women Engineers.” Wikipedia, 13 May 2026, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Society_of_Women_Engineers.
“Yvette E. Pearson, Ph.D., P.E., F.ASCE.” ASCE, www.asce.org/education-and-events/explore-education/instructors/yvette-e-pearson.
She Builds Podcast is a proud member of the Gābl Media network. Come join us!
Introducing the Gābl Media AEC Community Memberships. An interactive community platform for you, our audience! Ready to Start? JOIN NOW. Already a member? Login, gain instant access to the community, resources, and the most convenient way to get your continuing education credits.
Be sure to check out: https://gablemedia.com/shebuilds
