Professional, generous pioneer at rest
Mary Davidson Earle, nee Cameron. OBE, engineer, doctor of science, philanthropist. Born October 20, 1929, in Banavie, Fort William, Scotland. Died April 18, 2021, in Palmerston North.
One of New Zealand’s most highachieving and honoured women, an academic, engineer, pioneering food technologist and honorary Doctor of Science, Mary Earle, has been remembered as a feisty Scottish woman with a fierce intellect and a generous heart.
In later years, working as part of a dynamic duo in food technology and food processing with husband Richard, Earle was the first female academic engineer in New Zealand.
She trained as a chemical engineer at Glasgow University, completing her PHD in engineering, and worked in the emerging field of product development for five years.
In 1961, she came to New Zealand with her husband, worked for the Meat Industry Research Institute in Hamilton for five years, and joined Massey University in 1965 as a senior lecturer in the Food Technology Department.
There were no textbooks on product development, so she applied her own engineering discipline to creating her own curriculum, mentoring graduates who would lead the way in a burgeoning New Zealand food industry.
She helped lead the establishment of the Food Technology Research Centre, a vehicle for industry to bring their challenges to the university for expert help.
Friend Alan Cameron remembered her as a pioneer for women engineers and technologists, especially in food product development.
‘‘For a tiny woman from humble beginnings, she came a long way, challenged the glass ceiling, and is an inspirational role model to the women of today.’’
The once conservative, maledominated Institution of Professional Engineers of New Zealand had no choice but to be impressed, making her an honorary fellow of the institution.
She was awarded the OBE in 1993.
After their retirement, the Earles worked from home as retired professors, and wrote eight books between them.
Their most recent contribution to encouraging students in a variety of endeavours is the Earle Creativity and Development Trust, which annually makes grants throughout the Manawatu¯ and Rangitı¯kei regions.
The trust’s goal is to nurture
Alan Cameron
innovative ideas and talent in the diverse fields of science and technology, literature and history, music and the visual and fine arts.
The couple were awarded rare honorary Doctors of Science degrees from Massey University in 2018.
Speaking at the presentation, Royal Society chief executive Andrew Cleland said she was ‘‘a hard task master, but much-loved by those who were mentored by her’’.
At the award of her Massey medal, Massey University Professor Emeritus Allan Anderson said hundreds of food technology graduates were deeply influenced by ‘‘Mother Mary’’, and their success and that of the industries they worked in owed much to her inspiration and encouragement.
Earle maintained a lifetime connection to her Scottish heritage, and was a president and commissioner of the Clan Cameron Association of New Zealand, which knew her as ‘‘Maisie’’.
She set up the First Light Exchange Programme, a scholarship providing young people of Cameron heritage the opportunity to travel between New Zealand and Scotland to further their knowledge of heritage and culture.
Husband Richard spoke at her funeral of her industriousness and tenacity.
‘‘She overcame many of the obstacles that she faced as a pioneering female in a maledominated field.’’
Massey University Pasifika dean Palatasa Havea, once a struggling Tongan student, remembered the support and confidence Earle gave him to complete his studies.
There were many others, including the Thai students she mentored as she helped set up food technology programmes in Thailand, who have also risen to positions of prominence in a wide variety of academic and industrial positions.
Mary Earle’s chosen final resting place was at Turakina, the tiny settlement near Whanganui which was home to many of the early Cameron settlers.
‘‘For a tiny woman from humble beginnings, she came a long way, challenged the glass ceiling, and is an inspirational role model to the women of today.’’