Collection is open for research; access requires at least 48 hours advance notice. Because of the nature of certain archival formats, including digital and audio-visual materials, access will require additional advanced notice. Copies of digital files will be provided for use in the SCRC Reading Room upon request.
The Frances M. Richardson Papers document Professor Frances Marian (Billie) Richardson’s career at North Carolina State University as a research professor, scientific investigator, administrator, and instructor in the School (now College) of Engineering. Dating from 1928 to 2000, with the bulk of material from 1951 to 1993, the collection includes reports, proposals, publications, conference handouts, research notebooks, notes, correspondence, newspaper clippings, photographs, and one 16 mm film. The collection also documents Richardson’s involvement in a variety of professional societies, such as the Society of Women Engineers and Sigma Xi, the Scientific Research Society, and her professional development outside of the university. Much of her research and teaching focused on topics in chemical and biomedical engineering, and the collection contains research, advising, and course materials related to these areas of study.
Frances Marian (Billie) Richardson (1922-2018) was the first woman faculty member of the School (now College) of Engineering at North Carolina State University. From 1951 to 1980, she was a research associate professor in the Department of Engineering Research, and held various teaching positions at NC State University until her retirement in 1992. Her research and publications focused on the areas of fluid mechanics and infrared imaging thermography, as well as respiratory physiology and tracing the flow of non-Newtonian fluids using radioactive tracer displacement techniques. 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.
Frances Marian (Billie) Richardson (1922-2018) was the first woman faculty member of the School (now College) of Engineering at North Carolina State University. Richardson was attracted to NC State University by their announcement to build the first nuclear reactor on an academic campus. From 1951 to 1980, she was a research associate professor in NC State University's Department of Engineering Research, and from 1980 to 1983, she was associate director of the Engineering Operations Program. Richardson then became associate professor of Chemical Engineering from 1983 to 1990. After decades of 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 until she retired in 1992. Richardson was born in Roanoke, Virginia on May 6, 1922. She received a B. S. in chemistry from Roanoke College in 1943 and an M. S. in chemistry from the University of Cincinnati in 1947. She completed additional graduate coursework at Columbia University from 1949 to 1950.
Richardson's research and publications focused on the areas of fluid mechanics and infrared imaging thermography, as well as respiratory physiology and tracing the flow of non-Newtonian fluids using radioactive tracer displacement techniques. She received the Sigma Xi Research Award in 1959 and the Roanoke College Alumni Distinguished Service Award in 1970. She was also elected Fellow of the American Institute of Chemists in 1969, and that same year she was visiting professor of Biomedical Engineering at Case Western Reserve University. Richardson was elected the first president of the North Carolina Society of Women Engineers in 1979 and, in 1980, the society named her Outstanding Woman Engineer. Richardson passed away in Raleigh on April 19, 2018.
The Frances M. Richardson Papers document Professor Frances Marian (Billie) Richardson’s career at North Carolina State University as a research professor, scientific investigator, administrator, and instructor in the School (now College) of Engineering. Dating from 1928 to 2000, with the bulk of material from 1951 to 1993, the collection includes reports, proposals, publications, conference handouts, research notebooks, notes, correspondence, newspaper clippings, photographs, and one 16 mm film. The collection also documents Richardson’s involvement in a variety of professional societies, such as the Society of Women Engineers and Sigma Xi, the Scientific Research Society, and her professional development outside of the university. Much of her research and teaching focused on topics in chemical and biomedical engineering, and the collection contains research, advising, and course materials related to these areas of study.
Of note are materials relating to Richardson’s involvement in the now defunct Engineering Operations Program, the joint Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering, and her role in the development of coursework in biomedical engineering. The collection also documents Richardson’s work with chemical engineering professor Kenneth O. Beatty, and her administrative and advising roles with several NC State student organizations. As Richardson was the first woman faculty member in the School of Engineering, there is a significant amount of materials documenting the roles of women and minorities in science and engineering and her involvement in recruiting minority and women students.
This collection is divided into 8 series:
The nature of the NC State University Libraries' Special Collections means that copyright or other information about restrictions may be difficult or even impossible to determine despite reasonable efforts. The NC State University Libraries claims only physical ownership of most Special Collections materials.
The materials from our collections are made available for use in research, teaching, and private study, pursuant to U.S. Copyright law. The user must assume full responsibility for any use of the materials, including but not limited to, infringement of copyright and publication rights of reproduced materials. Any materials used for academic research or otherwise should be fully credited with the source.
This collection may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy laws and regulations. Researchers are advised that the disclosure of certain information pertaining to identifiable living individuals represented in this collection without the consent of those individuals may have legal ramifications (e.g., a cause of action under common law for invasion of privacy may arise if facts concerning an individual's private life are published that would be deemed highly offensive to a reasonable person) for which North Carolina State University assumes no responsibility.
[Identification of item], Frances M. Richardson Papers, MC 00039, Special Collections Research Center, North Carolina State University Libraries, Raleigh, NC
Gift of Frances M. Richardson, March 2007 (Accession no. 2007.0092), March 2012 (Accession no. 2012.0068), September 2012 (Accession no. 2012.0220), October 2012 (Accession no. 2012.0231)
Processed by: Taylor de Klerk and Jessica Serrao, 2016 December; machine-readable finding aid created by: Taylor de Klerk and Jessica Serrao, 2016 December. Preliminary inventory created by: Michael Watts, 2007 April.
The collection is organized into eight principal series:
Collection is open for research; access requires at least 48 hours advance notice. Because of the nature of certain archival formats, including digital and audio-visual materials, access will require additional advanced notice. Copies of digital files will be provided for use in the SCRC Reading Room upon request.
For more information contact us via mail, phone, or our web form.
Mailing address:
Special Collections Research Center
Box 7111
Raleigh, NC, 27695-7111
Phone: (919) 515-2273
[Identification of item], Frances M. Richardson Papers, MC 00039, Special Collections Research Center, North Carolina State University Libraries, Raleigh, NC
The nature of the NC State University Libraries' Special Collections means that copyright or other information about restrictions may be difficult or even impossible to determine despite reasonable efforts. The NC State University Libraries claims only physical ownership of most Special Collections materials.
The materials from our collections are made available for use in research, teaching, and private study, pursuant to U.S. Copyright law. The user must assume full responsibility for any use of the materials, including but not limited to, infringement of copyright and publication rights of reproduced materials. Any materials used for academic research or otherwise should be fully credited with the source.
This collection may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy laws and regulations. Researchers are advised that the disclosure of certain information pertaining to identifiable living individuals represented in this collection without the consent of those individuals may have legal ramifications (e.g., a cause of action under common law for invasion of privacy may arise if facts concerning an individual's private life are published that would be deemed highly offensive to a reasonable person) for which North Carolina State University assumes no responsibility.