Gillian Anne Gehring (born Gillian Anne Murray, 19 May 1941) is a British academic physicist, and emeritus Professor of Physics in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the

University of Sheffield , mottoeng = To discover the causes of things , established = – University of SheffieldPredecessor institutions: – Sheffield Medical School – Firth College – Sheffield Technical School – University College of Sheffield , type = Pu ...

. She was the second woman in the UK to become a Professor of Physics and in 2009 won the

Nevill Mott Medal and Prize The Nevill Mott Medal and Prize is an award presented in selected years by the Institute of Physics in the United Kingdom, for distinguished research in condensed matter or materials physics. It was first established in 1997 thanks to a donation ...

Early life and education

Gehring was born in

Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east ...

, where she attended school.Women in science and engineering
/ref> She studied Physics at the

Victoria University of Manchester The Victoria University of Manchester, usually referred to as simply the University of Manchester, was a university in Manchester, England. It was founded in 1851 as Owens College. In 1880, the college joined the federal Victoria University. Afte ...

from 1959 to 1962 and from 1962 to 1963 she studied for the Diploma in Advanced Studies. From 1963 to 1965, she studied for a DPhil in

Theoretical Physics Theoretical physics is a branch of physics that employs mathematical models and abstractions of physical objects and systems to rationalize, explain and predict natural phenomena. This is in contrast to experimental physics, which uses experim ...

at the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

Career and research

From 1965 to 1968, Gehring was a

Leverhulme Fellow The Leverhulme Trust () is a large national grant-making organisation in the United Kingdom. It was established in 1925 under the will of the 1st Viscount Leverhulme (1851–1925), with the instruction that its resources should be used to suppo ...

St Hugh's College, Oxford St Hugh's College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford. It is located on a site on St Margaret's Road, to the north of the city centre. It was founded in 1886 by Elizabeth Wordsworth as a women's college, and accepte ...

, and then a NATO fellow at the

University of California at Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant univ ...

. From 1968 to 1989, Gehring was a lecturer in th
Department of Theoretical Physics
and a Tutorial Fellow at

. From 1989 to 2006, Gehring was Professor of

Solid-State Physics Solid-state physics is the study of rigid matter, or solids, through methods such as quantum mechanics, crystallography, electromagnetism, and metallurgy. It is the largest branch of condensed matter physics. Solid-state physics studies how the l ...

at the

and was the only female professor in the Physics department. Gehring's research field is theoretical and experimental magnetism, and she has made major contributions to research projects concerned with orbital ordering and the co-operative Jahn-Teller effect. Gehring has an interest in

women in science The presence of women in science spans the earliest times of the history of science wherein they have made significant contributions. Historians with an interest in gender and science have researched the scientific endeavors and accomplishments ...

. She sat on the Administrative Board of the European Platform for Women in Science, served on the Institute of Physics’ Women in Physics Group, and chaired the Women’s Group of the European Physical Society.

Awards and honours

* 2009 —

Institute of Physics The Institute of Physics (IOP) is a UK-based learned society and professional body that works to advance physics education, research and application. It was founded in 1874 and has a worldwide membership of over 20,000. The IOP is the Physica ...

* 2005 — OBE,

2005 Birthday Honours The Birthday Honours 2005 for the Commonwealth realms were announced on 11 June 2005 to celebrate the Queen's Birthday of 2005. The recipients of honours are displayed here as they were styled before their new honour, and arranged first by the coun ...

, for services to Physics and to Equal Opportunities.

Personal life

In 1968, she married Karl Gehring. She had two daughters in 1979 and 1981.

Publications

* Sharma, P., A. Gupta, K. V. Rao, F. J. Owens, R. Sharma, R. Ahuja, J. M. Osorio Guillen, B. Johansson and G. A. Gehring, "Ferromagnetism above room temperature in bulk and transparent thin films of Mn-doped ZnO," ''Nature Materials'' 2, 673 (2003). DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nmat984 * Gehring, G. A. and K. A. Gehring, "Co-operative Jahn-Teller effects," ''Rep. Prog. Phys.'' 38, 1 (1975). DOI: https://doi.org/10.1088/0034-4885/38/1/001 * Behan, A. J., A. Mokhtari, H. J. Blythe, D. Score, X.-H. Xu, J. R. Neal, A. M. Fox, and G. A. Gehring, "Two Magnetic Regimes in Doped ZnO Corresponding to a Dilute Magnetic Semiconductor and a Dilute Magnetic Insulator," ''Phys. Rev. Lett.'' 100, 047206 (2008). DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.100.047206

References

External links

University of Sheffield
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gehring, Gillian 1941 births Academics of the University of Sheffield Alumni of the Victoria University of Manchester English physicists 20th-century British physicists 21st-century British physicists British women physicists Fellows of St Hugh's College, Oxford Fellows of the Institute of Physics Officers of the Order of the British Empire People from Nottingham British physicists English women physicists Living people 20th-century English women 20th-century English people 21st-century English women 21st-century English people