Aitchison, Beatrice, 1908-1997

Beatrice Aitchison (July 18, 1908 – September 22, 1997) was an American mathematician, statistician, and transportation economist who directed the Transport Economics Division of the United States Department of Commerce,[1] and later became the top woman in the United States Postal Service and the first policy-level appointee there.[2] She was born on July 18, 1908, in Portland, Oregon. Aitchison lived in Portland until 1916 and then in Washington, D.C. for the rest of her childhood.[3] bachelor's degree from Goucher College in 1928.

After working for a year as an actuary in New York City, she began graduate studies at Johns Hopkins University in mathematics, completing her master's in 1931 and her Ph.D. in 1933.[1] Her dissertation, supervised by Gordon Thomas Whyburn, At the University of Oregon, Aitchison completed a second master's degree in economics in 1937.[5] Aitchison moved back to Portland in 1935, and worked for the Works Progress Administration in 1936. She returned to American University as a lecturer in statistics and remained there until 1939, while also working for the United States Department of Agriculture and the Interstate Commerce Commission. From 1939 to 1942, she taught economics at the University of Oregon. By 1942, she was once again working for the federal government, this time in transportation economics, a career that would last the rest of her life.[1]

From 1942 to 1951, Aitchison was a statistician and later a transportation economist with the Interstate Commerce Commission. She also lectured at American University from 1942 to 1944, and consulted with the Office of Defense Transportation during World War II. From 1951 to 1953, she headed the Transport Economics Division of the United States Department of Commerce's Office of Transportation, but this division was eliminated in 1953.[1] From 1953 until 1971, Aitchison worked for the Post Office.[6] She then became Director of Transportation Research in the Bureau of Transportation of the United States Postal Service, becoming both the top woman at the postal service and "the first woman to be appointed to a policy level postal position".[2] When she retired in July 1971,[1] Aitchison "was one of the highest ranking women in the federal service".[7] Aitchison died of congestive heart failure at Sibley Memorial Hospital in Washington, D.C.[6] on September 22, 1997.[1]

The daughter of Clyde and Bertha Williams Aitchison, Beatrice Aitchison was born in Portland, Oregon in 1908. Her mother was a musician and her father was a lawyer and economist who worked with the Interstate Commerce Commission. Aitchison graduated from Goucher College in 1928 and earned an M.A. and Ph.D. in mathematics from Johns Hopkins University in 1931 and 1933 respectively. She earned a master's degree in economics from the University of Oregon in 1937. During the 1930s, Aitchison taught mathematics, statistics, and economics at the University of Richmond, American University, and the University of Oregon; she also worked for the Works Progress Administration, the Department of Agriculture, and the Interstate Commerce Commission during this time. She taught at American University from 1942 to 1944 and also served as a consultant with the Office of Defense Transportation during World War II. From 1942 to 1951 she worked as a statistician and as an economist for the Interstate Commerce Commission. In 1953 she became director of transportation research in the Bureau of Transportation of the Post Office Department, thus becoming the most senior woman employed by the Postal Service. In 1961, she received the United States Civil Service Commission's Federal Woman's Award and in 1965 she was elected a Fellow of the American Statistical Association. She retired in 1971 and died in 1997.