Sciences
Johanna (Hanna) Neumann
Professor and Head of the Department of Pure Mathematics, School of General Studies, 1964-1971, and Dean of Students, 1968-1969, Hanna Neumann, was the first woman to be appointed to a Chair at The University. Educated in Germany and at Oxford she received the degrees of Doctor of Philosophy in 1944 and Doctor of Science in 1955. Prior to her coming to the Australian National University in 1964 Neumann held teaching appointments at the University of Hull, 1946-1958, and the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology, 1958-1963. As President, Canberra Mathematical Association, 1967-1968, Professor Neumann took a leading role in the development of the teaching of mathematics in Australian schools and in 1969 was elected a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science in 1969.
Susan Serjeantson
Sue Serjeantson graduated BSc (Hons) from the University of New South Wales in 1967 and PhD from the University of Hawaii in 1970. After five years as a geneticist with the Papua New Guinea Institute of Medical Research, in 1976 she joined the John Curtin School of Medical Research at the Australian National University.
In 1988 Sue was appointed Professor and Head of the Department of Human Genetics at the ANU, and from 1994 to 1997 was Director of the Institute of Advanced Studies and ANU Deputy Vice-Chancellor. Professor Serjeantson was honorary President (2000-2001) of the Federation of Australian Scientific and Technological Societies (FASTS), an ex-officio member of the Prime Minister’s Science, Engineering and Innovation Council (2000-2001) and President of the National Youth Science Forum. In 2000 Sue was appointed an Officer in the Order of Australia (AM) for her contribution to medical research, academic administration and science advocacy.
Rosamond Eccles
Rosamond Eccles spent three years in Cambridge, from 1951, as an ANU PhD scholar then, in 1954, joined the Department of Physiology in Canberra to complete her PhD thesis research. As a Research Fellow from 1955, then Fellow, 1962, and working in a temporary laboratory at the ANU alongside her father, Sir John Eccles, Rosamond continued her investigation of transmission through mammalian sympathetic ganglia and, with a number of colleagues, studied interneurones, including Renshaw cells, and motoneurones involved in spinal reflexes. Rosamond resigned from the Department in February 1968.
Joyce Fildes
Graduating BSc at the University of Sydney in 1942, Joyce Fildes worked as a Research Assistant in its Organic Chemistry Department (1942-1944) then as a microanalyst in the School of Chemistry (1944-1950). She joined the Department of Medical Chemistry of the John Curtin School in 1950 as a microanalyst, initially in London, but then undertook microchemical research at the University of Birmingham, gaining a MSc in 1953 and a PhD in 1956. Fildes returned to Canberra as a Research Fellow in 1956 and was appointed Microanalyst (Fellow) in Medical Chemistry in 1961. In 1973 the Microanalytical Service was transferred (on paper) to the Research School of Chemistry, but Fildes continued working in the John Curtin School, with a broader range of clients, until her retirement in 1982. She was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) in 2000 for her services to the community.
Gwendolyn Woodroofe
After graduating BSc (Hons) at the University of Adelaide in 1940, Gwen Woodroofe gained a MSc degree in bacteriology before joining the Department of Microbiology of John Curtin School Medical Research in 1951, as a research assistant, to work on myxomatosis. She later became a Research Fellow, gaining a PhD degree in 1962, and then a Fellow until her retirement in 1978. Woodroofe played a major role in laboratory investigations of myxomatosis between 1951 and 1966 when she went to work with Ian Marshall on arboviruses. After retirement in 1978 Woodroofe became deeply involved with community activities, especially with UNICEF, work for which she was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) in 1997.