Diane Lemaire (’39) was the first woman to graduate in Engineering from the University of Melbourne and became a leading aeronautical engineer.

After completing her degree, Diane worked at Aeronautical Research Laboratories at Fisherman’s Bend, a division of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (later CSIRO).

She worked there as Officer-in-Charge of the Aerodynamic Research Group until retiring in 1944.

In the 1950s Diane was sent to England for a two-year assignment in the aerodynamics department of the Royal Aircraft Establishment which included study trips to France, Holland and Sweden.

In the early 1960s she took a leave of absence to obtain a Masters of Aeronautical Engineering from Cornell University in the United States.

Diane passed away in October 2012. Through her bequest to the University of Melbourne, the Diane Lemaire Scholarship was established to support female PhD students in the Melbourne School of Engineering.

Updated January 2016