Janet Willings (Britton, 1954) BEHons(Civil)

MLC School Dux, Janet Willings (Britton, 1954) became the second woman to graduate with an Engineering degree from the University of Sydney. She was the first female Civil Engineer graduate and the first woman to attain Honours in Engineering.

Janet Britton enrolled as a Boarder at MLC School in 1945 into Year 2. During her time at School, Janet was the Secretary of the Records Club and a member of the Verse-speaking Choir. In her final year, she was the Leawarra House Captain, a member of the Sports Committee, a Senior Prefect, the Dux of the School and a winner of a Commonwealth Scholarship for entry into the University of Sydney.

In 1959, Janet completed her Engineering studies with distinction and became a junior engineer in her father’s firm, McMillan and Britton, consulting engineers of Sydney.

After her marriage to a fellow engineer, Janet migrated to Toronto, Canada and raised six children while teaching in the Civil Technology Department at Ryerson Polytechnic (1975 to 1985) and earning a MEng from the University of Toronto in 1989. She also ran a consulting engineering practice and was also the President of the Consulting Engineers of Ontario.

Janet was the recipient of a multitude of awards both for her professional work and her public service. She was renowned in Toronto for her restoration of important heritage buildings. In 1975, Janet's company, Willings and Associates Ltd, relocated and restored the Milton Railway Station to a parkland, adapting it to serve as a community tourist and information centre. She also restored the George Brown House, the former home of one of Canada's 'Fathers of Confederation'.

Janet was also active in advocating for the equal access to education for girls. She lobbied the local high school to allow girls to have access to the industrial arts course. She noted that "if her daughter wanted to learn how to cook or sew, there were ample opportunities for that at home, but where was she going to find a band saw?" (National Post, Tue Dec 15, 1998, p12, Toronto, Ontario, Canada)