Dame Athene Margaret Donald (née Griffith; born 15 May 1953)
is a British
physicist
A physicist is a scientist who specializes in the field of physics, which encompasses the interactions of matter and energy at all length and time scales in the physical universe.
Physicists generally are interested in the root or ultimate cau ...
.
She is Professor Emerita of
Experimental Physics at the
University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a public collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209 and granted a royal charter by Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the world's third oldest surviving university and one of its most pr ...
, and Master of
Churchill College, Cambridge.
[Prof Dame Athene Donald, DBE, FRS](_blank)
Debrett's ''People of Today''. Retrieved 7 April 2016.
Early life and education
Donald was born Athene Margaret Griffith in London, to Walter Griffith and Annette Marian Tylor.
She was educated at
Camden School for Girls
The Camden School for Girls (CSG) is a comprehensive secondary school for girls, with a co-educational sixth form, in the London Borough of Camden in north London. It has about one thousand students of ages eleven to eighteen, and specialist- ...
and
Girton College, Cambridge
Girton College is one of the 31 constituent colleges of the University of Cambridge. The college was established in 1869 by Emily Davies and Barbara Bodichon as the first women's college in Cambridge. In 1948, it was granted full college statu ...
. She earned a bachelor's degree in
Natural Science (Theoretical Physics), followed by a PhD in 1977 for research on
electron microscopy of
grain boundary
In materials science, a grain boundary is the interface between two grains, or crystallites, in a polycrystalline material. Grain boundaries are two-dimensional defects in the crystal structure, and tend to decrease the electrical and thermal ...
embrittled systems.
Research and career
Donald worked at
Cornell University
Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to tea ...
as a
postdoctoral associate, where she switched from working on metals to polymers, before returning to Cambridge (Department of Materials Science) in 1981 and to the
Cavendish Laboratory in 1983. She became Professor of Experimental Physics in 1998. Her major domain of study is
soft matter physics, particularly its applications to living organisms and the relationship between structure and other properties.
Her research has applied microscopy, and in particular
environmental scanning electron microscopy, to the study of both synthetic and biological systems, notably protein aggregation.
Further details of her research can be found in the citation for the Faraday Medal she was awarded by the Institute of Physics in 2010:
Administrative work
Donald was a Fellow of
Robinson College, Cambridge
Robinson College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1977, it is one of the newest Oxbridge colleges and is unique in having been intended, from its inception, for both undergraduate and graduate students of bo ...
from 1981 to 2014, when she became Master of Churchill College. She was a member of the
ESPCI ParisTech
ESPCI Paris (officially the École supérieure de physique et de chimie industrielles de la Ville de Paris; ''The City of Paris Industrial Physics and Chemistry Higher Educational Institution'') is a prestigious grande école founded in 1882 by ...
scientific committee during that time. She is now an honorary fellow of both Robinson College and Girton College.
From 2009 to 2014, she was a member of the Council of Cambridge University. She has been a member of the Advisory Council of the
Campaign for Science and Engineering,
and was appointed a Trustee of the
Science Museum Group
The Science Museum Group (SMG) consists of five British museums:
* The Science Museum in South Kensington, London
* The Science and Industry Museum in Manchester
* The National Railway Museum in York
* The Locomotion Museum (formerly the Nat ...
from 2011-16. She was a member of the Scientific Council of the
European Research Council from 2013-2018. She chaired the Scientific Advisory Council of the Department of Culture, Media and Sports from 2015 to 2017.
Donald was the first chair of the Institute of Physics biological physics group from 2006 to 2010, and coordinated the writing of lecture notes in biological physics. From 2006 to 2008, from 2012 to 2015, and 2021 onwards, she has served on the Council of the
Royal Society
The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...
, and from 2010 to 2014 she chaired their education committee. For 2015–16, she was President of the
British Science Association
The British Science Association (BSA) is a charity and learned society founded in 1831 to aid in the promotion and development of science. Until 2009 it was known as the British Association for the Advancement of Science (BA). The current Chie ...
. She chaired the Interdisciplinary Advisory Panel for REF2021.
As Master of Churchill College, in June 2021 Donald was involved in a dispute regarding the College's Working Group on Churchill, Race, and Empire.
Diversity work
Donald has been an outspoken champion of women in science. From 2006 to 2014 she was director of WiSETI, Cambridge University's Women in Science, Engineering and Technology Initiative, and she was the University's first Gender Equality Champion from 2010 to 2014.
3/sup> Outside the University, she chaired th
Athena Forum
from 2009 to 2013. She sat on the BIS (later BEIS) Diversity group, and serves the Equality and Diversity Board of Sheffield University
, 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 ...
and the Gender Balance Working Group of the ERC; she is a Patron 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 ...
. She regularly writes on the topic of women in science in both mainstream media, and on her personal blog. She gives many talks on this issue.
She is the author of ''Not Just for the Boys: Why We Need More Women in Science,'' published in 2023.
She was awarded the UKRC's Lifetime Achievement Award in 2011, a Suffrage Science award by the MRC
MRC may refer to
Government
* Medical Research Council (United Kingdom)
* Medical Reserve Corps, a US network of volunteer organizations
* Municipalité régionale de comté (regional county municipality), Quebec, Canada
* Military Revolutionar ...
in 2013 and her portrait by Tess Barnes hangs in the Cavendish Laboratory. Donald talks about some of the issues for women in science in this video.
Awards and honours
In 1999 Donald was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society
The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...
. Her nomination reads:Academia Europaea
The Academia Europaea is a pan-European Academy of Humanities, Letters, Law, and Sciences.
The Academia was founded in 1988 as a functioning Europe-wide Academy that encompasses all fields of scholarly inquiry. It acts as co-ordinator of Europea ...
.
*2010: Appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in the Queen's Birthday Honours.
*2010: Faraday Medal 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 ...
.
*2011: UKRC Women of Outstanding Achievement's Lifetime Achievement Award in 2011.
*2012: Honorary Doctorate of Science from the University of East Anglia
The University of East Anglia (UEA) is a public research university in Norwich, England. Established in 1963 on a campus west of the city centre, the university has four faculties and 26 schools of study. The annual income of the institution f ...
.
*2012: Honorary Doctorate from the University of Exeter
, mottoeng = "We Follow the Light"
, established = 1838 - St Luke's College1855 - Exeter School of Art1863 - Exeter School of Science 1955 - University of Exeter (received royal charter)
, type = Public
, ...
.
*2013: Honorary Doctorate from 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 ...
.
*2013: Elected Fellow of the European Academy of Science.
*2014: Honorary Doctorate from Swansea University
Swansea University ( cy, Prifysgol Abertawe) is a public university, public research university located in Swansea, Wales, United Kingdom. It was chartered as University College of Swansea in 1920, as the fourth college of the University of Wales. ...
.
*2014: Honorary Doctorate from UCL.
*2014: Rideal Prize Lecturer of the SCI.
*2015: Honorary Doctorate from Heriot Watt University
Heriot-Watt University ( gd, Oilthigh Heriot-Watt) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. It was established in 1821 as the School of Arts of Edinburgh, the world's first mechanics' institute, and subsequently granted univ ...
.
*2015: Honorary Doctorate from Manchester University
, mottoeng = Knowledge, Wisdom, Humanity
, established = 2004 – University of Manchester Predecessor institutions: 1956 – UMIST (as university college; university 1994) 1904 – Victoria University of Manchester 1880 – Victoria Univer ...
.
*2015: Honorary Doctorate from Liverpool University
, mottoeng = These days of peace foster learning
, established = 1881 – University College Liverpool1884 – affiliated to the federal Victoria Universityhttp://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukla/2004/4 University of Manchester Act 200 ...
.
*2016: Bradford Global Achievement Award.
*2016: Honorary Doctorate from University of Leeds
, mottoeng = And knowledge will be increased
, established = 1831 – Leeds School of Medicine1874 – Yorkshire College of Science1884 - Yorkshire College1887 – affiliated to the federal Victoria University1904 – University of Leeds
, ...
.
*2017: Honorary Doctorate from University of Bath
(Virgil, Georgics II)
, mottoeng = Learn the culture proper to each after its kind
, established = 1886 (Merchant Venturers Technical College) 1960 (Bristol College of Science and Technology) 1966 (Bath University of Technology) 1971 (univ ...
.
*2019: Lifetime Achievement Award from THE
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...
.
*2021: Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry
The Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) is a learned society (professional association) in the United Kingdom with the goal of "advancing the chemical sciences". It was formed in 1980 from the amalgamation of the Chemical Society, the Royal Instit ...
.
Personal life
Donald has been married to mathematician
A mathematician is someone who uses an extensive knowledge of mathematics in their work, typically to solve mathematical problems.
Mathematicians are concerned with numbers, data, quantity, structure, space, models, and change.
History
On ...
Matthew J. Donald since 1976;
References
External links
*
Royal Society profile
* Athene Donald
Athene Donald’s Blog
- Occam's Typewriter
Guardian profileThe Papers of Dame Athene Donald
held at Churchill Archives Centre
The Churchill Archives Centre (CAC) at Churchill College at the University of Cambridge is one of the largest repositories in the United Kingdom for the preservation and study of modern personal papers. It is best known for housing the papers of ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Donald, Athene
1953 births
Living people
British women physicists
Dames Commander of the Order of the British Empire
Fellows of Girton College, Cambridge
Fellows of Robinson College, Cambridge
Fellows of the American Physical Society
Female Fellows of the Royal Society
Place of birth missing (living people)
People educated at Camden School for Girls
Alumni of Girton College, Cambridge
Masters of Churchill College, Cambridge
Fellows of the Royal Society
L'Oréal-UNESCO Awards for Women in Science laureates
21st-century British scientists
Scientists from London
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