Ingels, Margaret, 1892-1971.

Margaret Ingels was born October 25, 1892 in Paris, Kentucky. She was educated in the public schools of this state. In 1916 she received from the University of Kentucky a degree of Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering. This was the first engineering degree received by a woman at the University.

Upon graduation, she accepted a position in the engineering department of the Chicago Telephone Company. After a brief term of employment, she joined the Carrier Lyle Heating and Ventilation Corporation, New Jersey. She left Carrier to return to the University of Kentucky in order to finish a graduate degree in engineering. In 1920 Ms. Ingels became the first woman in the nation to receive a graduate degree in mechanical engineering. After graduation, Margaret was asked to work at the United States Bureau of Mines at the Pittsburgh Laboratory. Dr. F. Paul Anderson, Dean of the University of Kentucky Engineering School was the director of the lab and in 1921, he asked Ms. Ingels to work with other members of the American Society of Heating and Ventilating Engineers. Her assignment included field tests for the New York Commission on School Ventilation, 1927. It was during this time that she perfected a new portable machine that determines the amount of germ-laden dust in schoolrooms and public places. Returning to Carrier in 1929, Ms. Ingels helped perfect the sling psychrometer, which is used to read the relative humidity of the air. She worked in several departments including public relations until her retirement in 1953. Lexington, Kentucky was chosen as her permanent home. In retirement, she authored a book concerning the "father of air conditioning" of whom she was a colleague. The title of the book is Willis Haviland Carrier: Father of Air Conditioning which is located in Special Collections and Digital Programs, University of Kentucky Libraries. Ms. Ingels died in Lexington, Kentucky on December 13, 1971. She will be remembered as a pioneer in engineering especially within the air conditioning industry.

Because of her achievements, both educational and occupational, Ms. Ingels was chosen as a recipient of the 1940 Women's Centennial Congress. It is well to note that same year Eleanor Roosevelt was also a recipient. Her alma mater valued Ms. Ingels' excellence and she was awarded in 1957 an honorary law degree from the University of Kentucky. The University of Kentucky College of Engineering inducted Ms. Ingels into its 1993 Hall of Distinction. Since 1996, Ms. Ingels' portrait has hung in the Kentucky Capitol's west foyer among the other "Kentucky Women Remembered..." permanent exhibit.

From the description of Margaret Ingels collection, ca. 1845-1967. (University of Kentucky Libraries). WorldCat record id: 192072487