Women Trailblazers Making History in the Past 12 Months: Firsts in Leadership, Defence, Science, Sports, and Governance

[1] Megan McArthur, first woman to pilot SpaceX Dragon retires after 20 years at NASA

[2] Yosha Iglesias, a French chess coach and player, becomes the first transgender athlete to win the Woman International Master (WIM) title

[3] Sakshi Sawhney – First Woman Deputy Commissioner of Amritsar

[4] Dr. Manisha Thapliyal – First Woman Director of Himalayan Forest Research Institute

[5] Gertrude Alice Ram – India’s First Woman Major-General

[6] Kirsty Coventry – First Woman & African President of the IOC

[7] Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah Sworn in as Namibia’s First Woman President

[8] Uma Kanjilal appointed first woman Vice Chancellor of IGNOU

[9] Sub Lieutenant Aastha Poonia becomes Indian Navy’s first woman fighter pilot

[10] Jennifer Simons elected Suriname’s 1st woman President after historic coalition deal

[11] Lieutenant Commander Yashaswi Solankee: First woman officer appointed as Aide-de-Camp (ADC) to the President of India

[12] Julie Sweet: How Accenture’s First Female CEO Transformed the Company

[13] First woman Distinguished Scientist to head Business Development Group at CSIR

[14] Sucheta Kripalani (1908–1974) – India’s First Woman Chief Minister

[15] Anna Rajam Malhotra (1927 – 2018): First woman IAS officer of Independent India (1951 batch)

[16] Kirsty Coventry smashes glass ceiling to become first woman and first African to lead IOC

[17] Kalpana Saroj – India’s First Woman Entrepreneur

[18] Sonali Mishra becomes first woman DG of Railway Protection Force

[19] How Bachendri Pal's 43 minutes on Everest made her India's first woman to summit

[20] Farewell for Bristol’s First Female Bishop – Vivienne Faull

[21] Poonam Gupta: RBI’s first woman deputy governor in 14 years, eminent economist

[22] UK Appoints First Female Astronomer Royal in 350 Years – Michele Dougherty

[23] Shaikha Al Nowais: First Woman Secretary-General of UN Tourism

[24] Cornelia Sorabji: India’s First Woman Lawyer and Oxford Graduate

[25] Madhu Lunawat: India’s first woman AMC founder aiming to build a mutual fund empire from Tier-2 India

[26] Adaso Kapesa: First woman officer in India’s Special Protection Group (SPG), responsible for PM Narendra Modi’s security

[27] Muthulakshmi Reddy, India’s first woman medicine graduate

[28] Priya Nair – First Woman CEO & MD of Hindustan Unilever (HUL)

[29] Meenakshi Ganesan: Deputy Director General (DDG), Southern Regional Office, Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), Chennai

[30] Dr. Shailaja Donempudi: Distinguished Scientist (DS), Head of Business Development Group (BDG), CSIR Headquarters, New Delhi

[31] Geeta Samota becomes first woman CISF officer to scale Everest

[32] Charan Kaur Dhesi: Britain’s First Sikh Female Professional Boxer Makes History with Pro Debut Win

[33] First Women’s Political Party Launched in Iraq

[34] Aarthi Subramanian: First woman COO of TCS and one of the few women in India’s male-dominated IT sector

[35] Tam O’Shaughnessy – Partner of Sally Ride, America’s First Woman in Space

[36] Surgeon Vice Admiral Arti Sarin: First woman officer to take over as Director General, Armed Forces Medical Services (DGAFMS) – October 1, 2024

[37] Nora Polley and Nilima Ghose – India’s pioneering women at the Olympics separated by 28 years and independence