Alva Matthews Solomon, 88

Alva Matthews Solomon, a pioneering engineer, accomplished teacher, beloved friend and mother, passed away peacefully on August 24th, in New Canaan, CT, 5 days shy of her 89th birthday. 

Alva Matthews Solomon

Alva grew up in Great Neck, Long Island where her father was the head of Brown & Matthews Inc, an engineering and construction firm. She was deeply influenced by her father’s career and followed him into the field of engineering. She attended both Middlebury and Barnard Colleges, graduating with a B.S. and M.S. in Science. She earned her Ph.D. in Engineering Science from Columbia University, where she was the only woman in the civil engineering department. During her time as a graduate student, she began teaching classes and became Columbia’s first female engineering instructor.

Alva met her husband, Abby Richard Solomon, at a surveying camp and they married in 1959. Alva and Abby moved to Rochester NY where she became an Associate Professor and the only woman in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Sciences at the University of Rochester.  In addition to her teaching duties at the University of Rochester, she taught engineering classes at Swarthmore College and lectured frequently at Columbia.

After teaching for many years, she worked for Rochester Applied Science Associates and Paul Weidlinger Associates, where she carried out research on the mechanical behavior of materials and wave propagation in solids. Alva also held a number of offices in the Society of Women Engineers (SWE), the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, and the New York State Society of Professional Engineers. She was awarded the SWE Achievement Award in 1971. 

Alva moved to New Canaan in 1976 and had her only child, Stephanie, shortly thereafter. She eventually transitioned away from her professional career to focus on raising her daughter, caring for her family and pursing interests outside of engineering. She became an avid equestrian and active member of the dressage community at Ox Ridge Hunt Club. Through her friends, she discovered decorative arts at the Isabel O’Neil Studios and taught several highly specialized faux finish classes at the studio in New York. In recent years, Alva was an enthusiastic member of the Garden Club, the Presbyterian Church Choir and the New Canaan Artisans Group, where she put her knowledge of faux finishes to great use. 

Alva’s tremendous energy, intelligence and kindness will be missed by all who were lucky enough to know her. She is predeceased by her husband and survived by her daughter, her son-in-law and two grandchildren. A memorial service to celebrate Alva’s life will be held at a future date.