Inez Hazel at the SWE National Convention, 1956

Inez Hazel at the SWE National Convention, 1956
Source: Society of Women Engineers (Photograph Collection #2165)

Inez "Bambi" Hazel (middle row, 3rd from right) with fellow members of the Planning Committee for the 1956 Society of Women Engineers (SWE) Eastern Seaboard Conference, Boston, MA. Seated (l. to r.): Elaine Keith, SWE President Miriam Gerla, Aileen Cavanagh, Dorothea Chase. Middle row (l. to r.): unknown, Eileen Donahue, unknown, Inez Hazel, Janice Rossbach, unknown. Back row (l. to r.): unknown, Maddie McFadden, Agnes Galligan

Inez "Bambi" Bellamy Hazel had a long and distinguished career as a computer programmer and systems analyst at MIT, where she retired at age 70. She held senior positions at Lincoln Lab where she worked on Whirlwind, the first electronic computer; at MITRE on the Sage Air Defense System; at the Harvard Computing Center for 15 years; and then at MIT where she retired at age 70.

Hazel graduated from Hunter College with a major in Mathematics and minor in Physics. She was an early member of the Society of Women Engineers (SWE), which she joined in 1952 as a junior engineer at Raytheon. Her SWE service included: Boston Treasurer (1954), Planning Committee for the 1956 SWE Eastern Seaboard Conference, and Boston Section Director (1957-58).

In 1964 the women engineering students at MIT hosted a Symposium on American Women in Science and Engineering, an informational 2-day outreach event for high school girls from 150 schools. Hazel and others held an informal evening chat to answer the students’ questions about the field.

 

Sources:

 

Timeline: 1950s
Career: Engineering
Object: Image
Collection: Conferences, Critical Mass 1955-1968, Harvard, Lincoln Lab, Mentorship, STEM Education, Women
External Link: http://www.sweboston.org/bambi-hazel.html