the first woman instructor. The following year, 1919, Marie De Pierpont was hired as an instructor in French and was later named professor as well as being named head of the language department in 1928. She was the first woman to hold a full professorship at the institute and ended her position in 1932. It wasn't for another 11 years (1943) that another woman was hired as an instructor. Herta Leng, who worked in the Physics Department, was given the title of assistant professor in 1945, and became a full professor in 1966, the second woman to be a full professor at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.
While the percentage of women enrolled at RPI remains comparatively low, it has improved significantly over time. The ratio as of 2020 was about 32% women and 68% men.
== Notable alumni ==
According to the Rensselaer Alumni Association, there are nearly 100,000 RPI graduates living in the United States, and another 4,378 living abroad. In 1995, the Alumni Association created the Rensselaer Alumni Hall of Fame.
Several …
