Maude A. Spear became the first female to graduate from Oklahoma A&M College with an engineering degree in 1915, specifically, architectural engineering.
The Women in Engineering House on campus is known as Maud's Quad in her honor.
Though originally from Bismarck, North Dakota, she attended Oklahoma A&M College after her father moved to Oklahoma, where he taught Native American childen in government schools. Her family must also have spent some time in Colorado since her senior graduation listing in the yearbook denotes Durango, Colorado (see additional photo).
Her yearbook entry indicates "Maude is determined to rise to the top of her profession" and she apparently did. Spear accepted a job with an architechtural firm in Milwaukee following graduation and later moved to Washington, D.C., where she met and married Leland Olds. The couple had four children and Maude had a long career as an architect.
She died in 1990 at the age of 97. For more, read the Nov. 19, 2007 issue of Oklahoma State University's alumni magazine.