On the 11th January 1935, legendary pilot Amelia Earhart embarked on a 2,408-mile trip from Honolulu, Hawaii to Oakland, California. The next day, she became the first person to fly solo to the United States mainland from Hawaii. Since she had flown over the Atlantic Ocean five years earlier, this flight also made her the first person to fly across both the Pacific and Atlantic oceans.
To commemorate these remarkable achievements, Zonta celebrates 11 January as Amelia Earhart Day. Today we remember her contributions to the aerospace industry and her empowerment of women in science.
In the 85 years since this pioneering flight, Amelia Earhart has remained a legendary heroine for generations of girls. However, women are still far outnumbered in the workforce in physics, computer sciences and engineering.
To encourage more women to pursue advanced education and careers in these still male-dominated fields, Zonta International annually awards women pursuing Ph.D./doctoral degrees in aerospace-related sciences or engineering with the Amelia Earhart Fellowship. Helping these talented women achieve their educational and professional goals is just one way Zonta carries out its mission to give women access to all resources and the ability to be represented in decision-making positions on an equal basis with men.
This year for our celebration of Amelia Earhart Day the Zonta Club of Sydney are very excited to welcome Dr Danielle Moreau from the University of NSW as our speaker at our January club meeting. Dr Moreau researches in the field of aeroacoustics as well as being a Senior Lecturer in the school of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering. If you would like to join us to hear Dr Moreau speak, while enjoying delicious food thanks to Club York in Sydney, please email the club at zontaclubsydney@gmail.com
And meanwhile, you can watch a video here which shows Amelia Earhart’s vision for economic independence for women.
Zonta Club of Sydney 