"Are You Kidding Me, Beef Stroganoff"?

When Yvonne Brill died in March of this year the New York Times did an obituary on her. It began in the first sentence by stating she was famous for how good her beef stroganoff was. Then it continued to say she followed her husband all around being a devoted mother and wife. In the later paragraphs it said she had also been a scientist. Also in the first paragraph her son said she was "the best mom in the world".  No doubt that Yvonne Brill (1924-2013) was a good wife, was a great mom and by all accounts did make a mean beef stroganoff. So why did that opening paragraph of her NY Times obituary piss off so many people? Why did it piss me off? Why might it piss you off? Here is why.

Yvonne Brill was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba (Canada). She was a brilliant student of science in school but was denied admission to the University of Manitoba because they apparently had no accommodations to allow women students to attend. I find that hard to believe even though it was the 1940’s. She went on to earn a master’s degree in chemistry at U.S.C. She worked in the newly begun space program and is credited with developing the hydrazine resistojet.  She holds the patent (1967) on this device that stabilizes propulsion in rocket lift off and travel.

 Her theory was to use a single propellant and in doing so (not mixing fuels and gases) helped create greater performance and reliability. With a single propellant the payloads were lighter allowing the rocket to travel farther. Essentially she created a system that made it possible for rockets to go as far as they did, with the reliability that they had.

 Her innovations with lighter fuel payloads made it possible for NASA to get to the moon in less time (years) than otherwise. All the communication satellites and space stations owe their reliability and durability to the contributions of Yvonne Brill. She made a major contribution to the first weather satellite TIROS .She made a major contribution to the NOVA rocket designs which were instrumental in moon landings. She significantly helped with the propulsion of the Explorer 32 which was the first upper atmosphere satellite. She was instrumental in the propulsion of the Mars Observer. Yes, Yvonne Brill was a major figure in all phases of the US Rocket and satellite program.

She won or was awarded: AIAA Propulsion Award 2002; John Fritz Medal from the American Association of Engineering Society; 2001 NASA Distinguished Public Service Medal and in 2011 President Obama awarded her the National Medal of Technology and Innovation. In 1987 she was elected to the National Academy of Engineering. Yvonne Brill was in a word brilliant.

Have you ever heard of her? Of course you haven’t, that’s the point of this posting. Yvonne was a humble person. We know the astronauts; we even know who the chain smoking, white vest wearing mission control officer was: Gene Kranz. I know more about Gene Krantz and the TV commentators that covered the events than I do about the person instrumental in getting the astronauts up there, Yvonne Brill.
We don’t know that much about hardly any of the engineers, and rocket scientists that made NASA go but we should. It’s not just about the pilots or vest wearing, screen watching, head set users.

What’s shocking and infuriating is that when this brilliant scientist, a person that made it possible to watch cable TV, make cell phone calls and get immediate up to date weather information, dies the leading newspaper in the country  writes about her ability to make beef stroganoff and keep house.  It is an insult to her, and to women everywhere. IF you are a woman, and you help find the cure for cancer but are remembered for your peach cobblers then we haven’t come that far, have we? Want to know why women get pissed off at the way society and men in particular view them sometimes? Well, this is exhibit A.

My final point is this. The New York Times under pressure from outraged readers rewrote the obit the next day and took the beef stroganoff sentence out but otherwise left the opening paragraph the same about how she sacrificed her career to follow her husband. That is another outrage because it’s not true.  While Yvonne Brill did reduce her work week from full time to part time status for a few years to be at home more with her kids; this was done in agreement with her husband.  She never gave up her job. It was during these years that she did some of her best work. Instead of following her husband around he followed her and at one point she went to London to work on a rocket project with the British and he stayed home in New Jersey taking care of the kids. None of this was reported in the obituary.

It’s bad enough to short shrift a person’s professional career but when you don't even get the facts right that's injury to insult.

 Yvonne was a brilliant, pioneering scientist in the US Space program. Her contributions were real and undeniably significant.  Ignorance is no excuse, America needs to be the world leader in respecting women not marginalizing them.   Women have to be seen for whom they are and what they have accomplished not what society wants them to be. Don't get me wrong,  I am glad Yvonne Brill was thought of as the best mom in the world by her son. I'm happy that she was loved and respected by her husband but her lasting contribution to the world was not her homemaking skills and her beef stroganoff. C'mon!!
In America, today, we have to be able to do better than this, yes?!