Ethaline Hartge Cortelyou (26 November 1909 – 19 July 1997) was an American chemist and scientific technical writer and editor who worked on the Manhattan Project at the University of Chicago's Metallurgical Laboratory ("Met Lab") and was one of 70 scientists to sign the 1945 Szilárd petition.
[4] Cortelyou worked as a teacher and chemist as well as a technical writer and editor at multiple government agencies, academic institutions, and industrial companies.
[1] She is best known for her position a junior chemist and technical editor at the University of Chicago's Metallurgical Laboratory ("Met Lab") during the Manhattan Project.
[10] As of May 1959, she had written 40 publications in chemistry and technical writing, including book chapters and articles on the design of data tables and graphs.
[11] She also pointed out the benefits of technical editing positions for women, including that they could be a good bridge job between college graduation and starting a family and were more flexible in terms of reentry after taking time off for childcare.
[11] Cortelyou served as a founding member and treasurer of the National Council on the Participation of Women in Science, formed in March 1959 as an offshoot of the conference.
[7][11] The Council was short-lived because, despite getting startup funds from the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), their National Science Foundation (NSF) and National Institute of Health (NIH) grant proposals requesting funding for the creation of a center to help end discriminatory practices in employment and education of female scientists were rejected on "technical grounds.