Description

Contrary to popular opinion, the automotive industry is not a man’s world! Since the early days of General Motors, there have been women—known and unknown—who have had vital roles in design, engineering, manufacturing, and administration. In this follow-up to Damsels in Design, her book on women automotive designers from 1939-1959, Constance Smith presents profiles of and interviews with more than 100 women who have steered the course of General Motors for almost 100 years. The women featured include Bonnie Lemm, the first woman designer-engineer at GM; Helene Rother, the first woman automobile and transportation designer hired by GM’s Styling Department in the 1940s; Suzanne Vanderbilt, the holder of numerous industrial design patents and the designer of the first adjustable lumbar seat supports; Mary Barra, who became GM’s CEO in 2014 and chair in 2016; and many more. Meet these remarkable achievers and discover how they took on a male-dominated industry—and triumphed.