Born: 1899 (circa), China
Died: 14 December 1988
Country most active: China
Also known as: Ruth, Feng Yunhe
The following was written by Nina Baker and is excerpted from the book From Alchemy to Transport Phenomena: A Global History of Women in Chemical Engineering.
One of the very earliest women in chemical engineering was Chinese woman Yun-Hao ‘Ruth’ Feng—the first female on record to obtain a PhD in engineering in the United States—having obtained her chemical engineering MSc in 1928 and her PhD in 1931. Dr. Feng’s specialisation was cellulose chemistry and the development and utilization of plant fibres from ramie plants/grasses, for China’s textile industry, from1938 to 1988. Her research into the de-gumming and denaturation technologies for these plant fibres helped alleviate China’s post World War 2 textile shortage while utilizing the otherwise useless ramie. Dr. Feng died in 1988 in Guangzhou.