Dorothy Ann Eckels Bailie (born 1935) is an American mathematician who worked at Goddard Space Flight Center in the 1950s and 1960s. She was one of the three authors of the 1959 report establishing Earth's shape as asymmetrical and "pear-shaped", based on data from Vanguard 1.

Ann E. Bailie
A young white woman with short dark hair, standing in front of a chalk board, holding papers; she is wearing a white blouse
Ann E. Bailie, from a 1961 publication of the United States Civil Service Commission
Born
Ann Eckels

1935
Littleton, New Hampshire
Died2022
OccupationMathematician

Early life

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Dorothy Ann Eckels was born in Littleton, New Hampshire and raised in Laconia, New Hampshire, the daughter of John C. Eckels and Dorothy R. Eckels.[1] Her father was a surgeon. Her maternal grandfather, Adolph Frederick Erdmann, was a pioneer in the field of anesthesiology.[2][3] She earned a bachelor's degree in mathematics at Middlebury College in 1957.[4] While at Middlebury, she was elected Queen of the school's Winter Carnival, an event she co-chaired.[5]

Career

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Bailie worked at the United States Naval Research Laboratory after college.[6] By 1959 she worked in the Theoretical Division of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, on calculating and analyzing complex orbits for satellites.[7] She, R. Kenneth Squires, and John A. O'Keefe were the team that determined that the Earth was asymmetrical and "pear-shaped",[8] based on data from Vanguard 1.[9][10]

James E. Webb mentioned Bailie, Nancy Roman, and Eleanor C. Pressly in his 1961 commencement speech at George Washington University, as examples of women in the space program.[11] In 1963, she was named one of the Ten Young Women of the Year by Mademoiselle magazine.[12] Later in her career, she worked at Analytical Mechanics Associates in Maryland.[6][13]

Personal life

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Ann Eckels married accountant William J. Bailie in 1959.[1] They had three children. Her husband died in 2009.[14]

References

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  1. ^ a b "William Bailie Takes Bride In New Hampshire Church". Democrat and Chronicle. 1959-11-05. p. 40. Retrieved 2021-10-02 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. ^ Erickson, James C. III. "In the Beginning: Adolph Frederick Erdmann and the Long Island Society of Anesthetists" in Douglas R. Bacon, Kathryn E. McGoldrick, and Mark J. Lema. eds., The American Society of Anesthesiologists: A Century of Challenges and Progress (The Wood Library 2005): 1-8.
  3. ^ "Erdmann Certificate". Wood Library-Museum of Anesthesiology. Retrieved 2021-10-02.
  4. ^ "Middlebury C. Woman Hit in Science Field". Rutland Daily Herald. 1959-02-06. p. 13. Retrieved 2021-10-02 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ "Middlebury Carnival Queen". Rutland Daily Herald. 1957-02-16. p. 6. Retrieved 2021-10-02 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ a b "Mrs. Bailie Becomes First Alumna of Middlebury Phi Beta Kappa Unit". The Burlington Free Press. 1968-06-10. p. 4. Retrieved 2021-10-02 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ Binder, Otto O. (2019-06-28). Careers in Space. Wildside Press LLC. p. 90. ISBN 978-1-4794-3929-4.
  8. ^ O'Keefe, John A. (1963-10-21). "Our Pear-Shaped World". Star Tribune. p. 14. Retrieved 2021-10-02 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ^ David, Shayler; Moule, Ian A. (2006-08-29). Women in Space - Following Valentina. Springer Science & Business Media. p. 104. ISBN 978-1-84628-078-8.
  10. ^ "It's a Pear-Shaped World". Civil Service Journal. 1: 20. April 1961.
  11. ^ Wilds, Helen Elaine. "Gendered Space: Emerging Frames in NASA Public Relations and Mainstream Media Representation, 1958-1966" (Master's thesis, 2019, Middle Tennessee State University): 80.
  12. ^ "Student Journalist is Named One of 'The Ten Young Women of the Year'". Redlands Daily Facts. 1963-01-08. p. 8. Retrieved 2021-10-02 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ^ Jazwinski, Andrew H., Stanley F. Schmidt, Ann E. Bailie, and Norman Levine, "Suboptimal Filtering Part 4: Test Bed Computer Program" (Analytical Mechanics Associates 1968).
  14. ^ "William J. "Bill" Bailie". Hartford Courant. 2009-03-16. pp. C06. Retrieved 2021-10-02 – via Newspapers.com.