About Yvonne Brill
Yvonne Madelaine Brill (née Claeys; December 30, 1924 – March 27, 2013) was a Canadian American rocket and jet propulsion engineer. She is responsible for inventing the Electrothermal Hydrazine Thruster (EHT/Resistojet), a fuel-efficient rocket thruster that keeps today’s satellites in orbit, and holds a patent for its invention. During her career she was involved in a broad range of national space programs in the United States, including NASA and the International Maritime Satellite Organization. == Early life == Born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada to Belgian immigrant parents, Yvonne Brill, was a first-generation Canadian. She was inspired to go to school by Amelia Earhart, the first woman pilot to fly across the Atlantic Ocean. Despite her desire to attend school, she faced several hurdles, her father encouraged her to open a shop in their hometown instead of pursuing additional education, and her high school physics teacher told her that "a woman would never get anywhere". She applied to the University of Manitoba's engineering program at 18, but was denied by the school, as they claimed that their mandatory summer camp did not have the necessary facilities to host female students. Despite this, Yvonne was the first in her family to go to college, graduating from the University of Manitoba in 1945 at the top of her class with a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics. She went on to study at the University of Southern California, where she took night classes and graduated in 1951 with a Master of Science in Physical Chemistry. Her denial to Manitoba’s school of engineering forever inspired her to encourage women in the sciences, and in her, forged an unwavering confidence against gender-based discrimination.
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.