Lady Godiva was the beautiful wife of Leofric III, Earl of Mercia and lord of Coventry. The people of that city were suffering grievously under the earl’s oppressive taxation. Lady Godiva appealed again and again to her husband, who obstinately refused to remit the tolls. At last, weary of her entreaties, he said he would grant her request if she would ride naked through the streets of the town. Lady Godiva took him at his word, and after issuing a proclamation that all persons should keep within doors or shut their windows, she rode through, clothed only in her long hair. One person disobeyed her proclamation, a tailor, ever afterwards known as Peeping Tom. He bored a hole in his shutters that he might see Godiva pass. Her husband kept his word and abolished the onerous taxes.

Lady Godiva is the patron Saint of Engineering because her story captures the essence of selfless dedication to the betterment of society, which all engineers are bound to. We honor Lady Godiva through our song, the Engineers’ Hymn, which is sung at most engineering schools in North America.