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Elsie MacGill Facts & Worksheets

Elsie MacGill was the first woman in the world to earn a master’s degree in aeronautical engineering.

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Elsie MacGill was the first woman in the world to earn a master’s degree in aeronautical engineering. She was also the first Canadian woman to earn a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering. She is called “the Queen of Hurricanes.”

See the fact file below for more information on the Elsie MacGill or alternatively, you can download our 25-page Elsie MacGill worksheet pack to utilise within the classroom or home environment.

Key Facts & Information

EARLY LIFE

  • Elizabeth Muriel Gregory MacGill was born on March 27, 1905 in Vancouver, British Columbia.
  • She was the second youngest daughter of James Henry MacGill, a well-known lawyer in Vancouver, and Helen Gregory MacGill, the first woman judge in British Columbia.
  • Elizabeth, nicknamed “Elsie,” had an older sister named Helen Jr., with whom she shared a close relationship.
  • They were so close that the family referred to them as “HelNelsie.”
  • She had two older step-brothers, Eric Herbert Gregory and Frederic Philip Gregory, from her mother’s first marriage to Frederick Charles Flesher, who died in 1901.

EDUCATION

  • Elsie was initially homeschooled formally with a program that mimicked the public school that her older brothers attended.
  • Elsie then was able to attend King George Secondary School, a public school in Vancouver.
  • In 1921, when she was only 16 years old, Elsie was accepted into the University of British Columbia, where she enrolled in applied science.
  • She was asked to leave the program by the dean after only one term.
  • In 1923, she enrolled at the University of Toronto’s School of Practical Science to study electrical engineering.
  • She was the first woman to be admitted to the engineering program, which inevitably drew attention to her and caused a stir among her male schoolmates.
  • She maintained lifelong friendships with her classmates and served within its alumni association.
  • In 1927, she graduated from the University of Toronto and became the first Canadian woman to earn a degree in electrical engineering.
  • While at the University of Toronto, she learned about the up-and-coming field of aeronautical engineering.
  • Following her graduation, she took a job as a mechanical engineer with an automobile company in Pontiac, Michigan.
  • When the company began to make aircraft, her interest in aeronautics grew.
  • She decided to learn more about the field and started part-time studies in aeronautics at the University of Michigan, which later became full-time.
  • In 1929, she completed her master’s degree in aeronautical engineering, making her the first woman in the world to do so.

POLIO DIAGNOSIS & DOCTORAL STUDIES

  • Shortly before her graduation MacGill was diagnosed with polio.
  • She was told she would no longer be able to walk, but she refused to believe that.
  • She was temporarily confined to a wheelchair and spent time recovering through physiotherapy in Vancouver.
  • While in Vancouver, she drafted aircraft designs, wrote articles about aircraft and flying, and participated in a number of her mother’s feminist works.
  • Once she was well enough, she began her postgraduate studies in 1932 at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where she studied until 1934.

ENGINEERING CAREER

  • In 1934, MacGill received an offer to work as an assistant aeronautical engineer at Fairchild Aircraft in Montreal so she moved back to Canada.
  • In 1938, she became the first woman elected as a member in the Engineering Institute of Canada.
  • Also in 1938, she took a job as chief aeronautical engineer at Canadian Car & Foundry (Can Car) making her the first woman in the world to hold such a position.
  • One of the noteworthy projects undertaken by MacGill in Can Car was the design, construction and testing of the Maple Leaf Trainer II.
  • The Maple Leaf Trainer II was recognized as the first aircraft to be designed and engineered by a woman.
  • When Can Car was chosen to build the Hawker Hurricane fighter aircraft for the Royal Air Force, MacGill oversaw the retooling of the factory so it would be equipped for mass production of the aircraft.
  • MacGill drew attention as being a woman who was Can Car’s chief aeronautical engineer during wartime.
  • The plant expanded from about 500 workers to 4,500 by the end of the war, half of which were women.
  • In 1942, the American True Comics series nicknamed her “Queen of the Hurricanes” in a comic book about her.
  • She administered design changes to the Hurricane to equip it to fly in cold temperatures.
  • By the time the Hawker Hurricane contract ended in 1943, Can Car had produced over 1,400 Hurricanes.
  • The next aircraft project undertaken by Can Car was the production of the American Curtiss-Wright Helldiver.
  • Many design changes being sent in from the United States caused production to not run as smoothly.
  • In the midst of these challenges, MacGill and plant manager E.J. Soulsby were dismissed from their positions in the factory in 1943.
  • Shortly after, the two married and moved to Toronto, where they built an aeronautical consulting company.
  • She was elected as chairman of the Engineering Institute of Canada in 1942.
  • In 1946, she became the first woman to serve as Technical Advisor for the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), where she helped in drafting International Airworthiness regulations for the design and production of commercial aircraft.
  • In 1947, she became chairman of the UN Stress Analysis Committee, making her the first woman on a United Nations committee.

ADVOCATING FOR WOMEN

  • Not only was Elsie MacGill a pioneering engineer, she was also a leading Canadian feminist, as evidenced in her work in campaigning for paid maternity leave and liberalization of abortion laws.
  • After her mother died in 1947, MacGill started writing a biography about her titled My Mother the Judge: a Biography of Helen Gregory MacGill, which was published in 1955.
  • Her mother’s feminist work inspired MacGill’s feminist activism, leading her to renew her work with the Canadian Federation of Business and Professional Women’s Clubs (CFBPWC).
  • Championing women’s rights and role in society, MacGill served as the CFBPWC’s provincial president from 1956 to 1958 and as its national president from 1962 to 1964.

DEATH & LEGACY

  • While visiting her sister in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Elsie MacGill died on November 4, 1980.
  • The year before she died, she had received the Association of Professional Engineers Ontario’s highest honour – the Gold Medal.
  • In 1983, MacGill was inducted into Canada’s Aviation Hall of Fame.

Elsie MacGill Worksheets

This is a fantastic bundle which includes everything you need to know about Elsie MacGill across 25 in-depth pages. These are ready-to-use Elsie MacGill worksheets that are perfect for teaching students about Elsie MacGill who was the first woman in the world to earn a master’s degree in aeronautical engineering. She was also the first Canadian woman to earn a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering. She is called “the Queen of Hurricanes.”

Complete List Of Included Worksheets

  • Elsie MacGill Facts
  • Queen of the Hurricanes
  • Flying Facts
  • Can Car Work
  • Aviation Vocabulary
  • Tasks of an Aeronautical Engineer
  • Women in Aviation
  • Comic Inspiration
  • Quote Comprehension
  • Feminist Slogans
  • My Airplane Design

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Use With Any Curriculum

These worksheets have been specifically designed for use with any international curriculum. You can use these worksheets as-is, or edit them using Google Slides to make them more specific to your own student ability levels and curriculum standards.

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