Daphne Frances Jackson (23 September 1936 – 8 February 1991) was an English

nuclear physicist Nuclear physics is the field of physics that studies atomic nuclei and their constituents and interactions, in addition to the study of other forms of nuclear matter. Nuclear physics should not be confused with atomic physics, which studies the ...

. In 1971 she became the first female physics professor in the UK. A legacy after her death in 1991 enabled the foundation of the

Daphne Jackson Trust The Daphne Jackson Trust is an independent UK charity based in the Physics Department at the University of Surrey. It was established in 1992 to provide Fellowships to scientists, technologists, engineers and mathematicians to return them to ...

Biography

Daphne Frances Jackson was born in

Peterborough Peterborough () is a cathedral city in Cambridgeshire, east of England. It is the largest part of the City of Peterborough unitary authority district (which covers a larger area than Peterborough itself). It was part of Northamptonshire unti ...

; her father was a machine tool operator and her mother had been a textile designer before she married.Biography of Daphne Jackson
Daphne Jackson Trust, accessed October 2012 Jackson went to the local grammar school, Peterborough County Grammar School for Girls, from where she was able to apply to take physics at

Imperial College Imperial College London (legally Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine) is a public research university in London, United Kingdom. Its history began with Prince Albert, consort of Queen Victoria, who developed his vision for a cu ...

in London. She was one of only two female students on the course alongside 88 males.First Female Physics Professor
New Scientist, 21 September 1972 Jackson moved to what is now called the

University of Surrey The University of Surrey is a public research university in Guildford, Surrey, England. The university received its royal charter in 1966, along with a number of other institutions following recommendations in the Robbins Report. The institu ...

at the invitation of Lewis Elton to study nuclear physics when he became head of the physics department at Battersea College of Advanced Technology.R. C. Johnson, E. A. Johnson, 'Jackson, Daphne Frances (1936–1991)', Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 200
accessed 18 Oct 2012
/ref> She became a lecturer and she was awarded a doctorate in 1962. In 1971, Jackson became Britain's first female professor of physics when she was appointed by University of Surrey at the age of 34. She eventually rose to be the dean of the university as well as sitting on a range of bodies; she held a senior position at the Meteorological Office. Jackson was president of the

Women's Engineering Society The Women's Engineering Society is a United Kingdom professional learned society and networking body for women engineers, scientists and technologists. It was the first professional body set up for women working in all areas of engineering, pred ...

between 1983 and 1985, succeeding Rosemary West and succeeded by Linda Maynard. She was vice-president of the

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 Physic ...

, after being its youngest ever fellow. Jackson campaigned for women's rights and she was disappointed to see that talented women were lost in lowly jobs because they could not re-enter their career after a break. In 1985 Jackson devised a plan to help these women by allowing them to work for two years where they could readjust to their discipline after taking a break to have a child, becoming a carer or just because they followed their husband's career rather than their own. Jackson is reported as saying, "Imagine a society that would allow

Marie Curie Marie Salomea Skłodowska–Curie ( , , ; born Maria Salomea Skłodowska, ; 7 November 1867 – 4 July 1934) was a Polish and naturalized-French physicist and chemist who conducted pioneering research on radioactivity. She was the fir ...

to stack shelves in a supermarket simply because she took a career break for family reasons."

''Qualified women who are unemployed or under-employed following a career break for family commitments represent an appalling waste of talent and of investment in their initial education. Many such women are eager to return to their original careers or to a new field of activity for which their initial education is relevant, provided that retraining can be given and that they can, at least initially, work on a part-time basis''.

Illness and death

Professor Jackson was diagnosed with cancer - a disease she was helping to fight through her work with the Institute for Cancer Research and the Royal Marsden Hospital. She had published 55 articles on the use of nuclear physics in medicine. She was appointed an OBE in 1987. Jackson died in

Guildford Guildford () is a town in west Surrey, around southwest of central London. As of the 2011 census, the town has a population of about 77,000 and is the seat of the wider Borough of Guildford, which had around inhabitants in . The name "Guildf ...

in 1991 of cancer.

Legacy

The Daphne Jackson Medal and Prize, established in 2016 and named in Jackson's honour, are awarded by the

"for exceptional early career contributions to physics education and to widening participation within it". The Daphne Jackson Trust was founded in 1992, under her legacy, in order to aid many talented individuals return to their chosen careers after having a family or inevitably pausing their career. The Trust had enabled over 370 STEM researchers to go back to their chosen careers/fields bu 2019. In 2020 a blue plaque was unveiled in her memory on the site of her former school, the County Grammar School in Peterborough, by the local Civic Society at the suggestion of her brother Ron.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jackson, Daphne 1938 births 1991 deaths Officers of the Order of the British Empire British nuclear physicists British women physicists People from Peterborough Academics of the University of Surrey Fellows of the Institute of Physics British women engineers 20th-century women engineers Women nuclear physicists Presidents of the Women's Engineering Society