Laurel van der Wal (d. 2009)
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Download IIIF ManifestRequest permissionsDownload image PrintID: SIA Acc. 90-105 [SIA2010-0311]
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Form/Genre: Black-and-white photographs
Date: 1961
Citation: Smithsonian Institution Archives, Accession 90-105, Science Service Records, Image No. SIA2010-0311
Pioneering female aeronautical engineer Laurel van der Wal (d. 2009) (later Laurel van der Wal Roennau) had had a brief career as a model, art instructor, and deputy sheriff before training to be a pilot during World War II; she returned to University of California to become an aeronautical engineer, winning the Society of Women Engineers Achievement Award in 1961 when she was head of bioastronautics at Space Technology Laboratories. The 1961 press release announcing award emphasized that the "pretty head of bioastronautics at Space Technology Laboratories, Inc." was a "former model" even though the Los Angeles Times had recently named her 1961 Woman Scientist of the Year. She was a specialist in engineering problems of manned space flight, including effects of weightlessness, radiation protection, and development of data handling and processing systems.
Smithsonian Institution Archives, Accession 90-105, Science Service Records, Image No. SIA2010-0311
Smithsonian Institution Archives, Capital Gallery, Suite 3000, MRC 507; 600 Maryland Avenue, SW; Washington, DC 20024-2520
1961
Black-and-white photographs
SIA Acc. 90-105 [SIA2010-0311]