Lois Cooper
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Lois Cooper | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1931 Vicksburg, Mississippi, United States |
| Died | 2014 (aged 82–83) |
| Alma mater | Los Angeles City College, Los Angeles State College, University of Southern California |
| Occupation | Engineer |
| Engineering career | |
| Employer | Caltrans |
Lois Cooper (1931 – 2014) was a transportation engineer and the second woman and first African American woman to pass the professional engineers license exam in California.[1] During her career at Caltrans, Cooper worked on major highway infrastructure projects across California as well as early Carpool lanes and bikeways.[1][2]
Cooper was the first in her family to graduate from high school,[2] and upon graduating she started a law degree at Tougaloo College. She may have left for a number of reasons, to be closer to her mother,[1] for financial reasons[3] or because she wanted to change to study mathematics.[4]
In California she joined Los Angeles City College, and changed to studying mathematics[1] and later studied at Los Angeles State College. During her degree study she was often the only Black woman in the class.[5] She graduated in 1954, but continued her engineering studies at University of Southern California alongside her work.[2]
Career
Before completing her degree in Mathematics, Cooper first applied for a role at the California Department of Architecture but was rejected once the interviewer met her and realised she was a woman.[5]
In 1953, Cooper was hired as an Engineering Aide by the Engineering Department at the California Department of Transportation or Caltrans, and was the first African American woman to be hired there.[1] Much of her early role was calculating the alignment for highway infrastructure projects such as the Century Freeway,[1] the San Diego Freeway, the Long Beach Freeway, the San Gabriel River Freeway, and the Riverside Freeway.[6] Many of the Interstate Highway construction projects at the time were being built through predominantly Black and low-income neighbourhoods. The Civil Rights Division at Caltrans, of which Cooper was a part, ensured that projects were mandated to hire minority construction workers from these communities.[1]
She was a talented mathematician, who was often called upon to help her white, male engineer colleagues, to fix mistakes and solve problems.[7]
Cooper was the second woman and first black woman pass the Professional Engineers License Exam in California,[1] doing so on her first attempt.[5]
Later in her career she was the first female director of the First Diamond Lane,[1] a programme which delivered the pre-cursors to Carpool Lanes. She was also involved in the design of the first bikeway.[2]
She retired in 1991[3] but continued mentoring and teaching young engineers into her retirement.[4]
Cooper died in 2014.[1]