Dorothy Constance Stratton (March 24, 1899 – September 17, 2006) is best known as the first director of the SPARS, the U.S. Coast Guard Women's Reserve.

Lieutenant Commander Stratton attained the rank of captain in February 1944 and served as director of the SPARS from 1942 until January 1946.

Her brother, Richard C. Stratton, served as a captain in the U.S. Army's Medical Reserve Corps during World War II.

[1][2][3] Stratton's family traveled across the Midwest during her youth and she attended high schools in Lamar, Missouri, and Blue Rapids, Kansas.

[3] While pursuing her advanced degrees, Stratton taught at school in Brookfield, Missouri; Renton, Washington; and San Bernardino, California.

[4] In 1933, after receiving her Ph.D. from Columbia, Stratton joined the staff at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana, and became as its first full-time Dean of Women.

A large part of the increase was attributed to her efforts to develop an experimental curriculum that attracted women who preferred to study subjects other than home economics.

Stratton also managed the construction of three new residence halls for women on Purdue's campus in West Lafayette.

[7] After completing her initial training, she briefly served as Assistant to the Commanding Officer of the radio school for WAVES at Madison, Wisconsin.

[2] In November 1942, after Franklin D. Roosevelt signed an amendment to Public Law 773 to create a women's reserve for the U.S. Coast Guard, Stratton became the first woman to be accepted into the new program.

Stratton remained proud of the fact the U.S. Coast Guard used the highest percentage of women of any military branch of service during the war.

[8] At the time of her death two years later, Purdue University president Martin C. Jischke noted that Stratton's roles as Dean of Women at Purdue, director of the SPARS during World War II, and her postwar career at the International Monetary Fund and as the national executive director for the Girl Scouts made her "a trailblazer in helping to create opportunities for women.

[3] The certificate for the citation commended Stratton as a "brilliant organizer and administrator" who had "a keen understanding of the abilities of women and the tasks suited to their performance.