Hertha Ayrton - Pioneer of Radio
She did amazing work on radio theory early 1900's, and had to give her presentation to a man to deliver because as a woman she could not speak at the Academy of Science. She wrote them a letter that "shocked" them with profanity "coming from a woman!"
"Institutional Rejections of Ayrton
Ayrton faced her own significant institutional barriers, primarily with the British Royal Society:
1901 Paper Presentation: The Royal Society rejected her petition to present her own paper, "The Mechanism of the Electric Arc." Instead, a man was required to read it for her while she sat in silence.
1902 Fellowship Rejection: Her nomination for fellowship was rejected not based on merit, but because she was a married woman. Under British law at the time, a married woman was not considered a distinct legal entity from her husband.
Hughes Medal (1906): In a historical irony, that same institution awarded her the Hughes Medal in 1906 for her original discoveries in physical sciences, making her the first woman to receive it. "