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Alva Matthews Solomon, 88
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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 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.