Frances Marian (Billie) Richardson received a B.S. in chemistry from Roanoke College in 1943 and an M.S. in chemistry from the University of Cincinnati in 1947. From 1951 to 1980, she was a research associate in North Carolina State University's Department of Engineering Research. She was the first woman faculty member of the College of Engineering. From 1980 to 1983 she was associate director of NCSU's Engineering Operations Program. After working in the dean's office of the College of Engineering, in 1990 she joined the faculty of the Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering.
Richardson's publications have focused on the areas of fluid mechanics and infrared imaging thermography. She received the Sigma Xi Research Award in 1959 and the Roanoke College Alumni Distinguished Service Award in 1970. She was named Outstanding Woman Engineer by the North Carolina Society of Women Engineers in 1980 (she had been elected as the organization's first president in 1979). She is a Fellow of the American Institute of Chemists.
From the guide to the Frances M. Richardson Papers, 1948 - 2006, (Special Collections Research Center)
