Celebrating women: The first woman to receive a medical degree from Bristol

To mark the 2018 centenary of the first British women winning the right to vote, we are honouring Bristol women who have changed our institution, and the world. From our first woman lecturer to the first British woman to have won a Nobel Prize, these activists, educators and agitators now take their rightful place on the walls of the Wills Memorial building – along with ten of the women in today’s University community to who continue to be inspired by their legacy.

Dr Elizabeth Casson, The first woman to receive a medical degree from the University of Bristol, with Asha Mohammed, undergraduate medical student

“Elizabeth was 30 when she started studying
medicine at Bristol in 1913 – a move thanks in part to her uncle, Sir Isambard Owen, being
the Vice-Chancellor here. She became the first woman to achieve a medical degree from the University when she graduated in 1919.

“The career change proved fortuitous, not just for Elizabeth but for the field of occupational therapy, which she went on to pioneer in the UK. It was during her first job in a hospital that she noticed the benefits of giving patients some voluntary artistic and occupational activities during treatment to help aid their recovery.

“In 1929, having drawn inspiration from a visit to the United States and subsequently borrowing £1,000 from her brother Lewis, she founded Dorset House in Clifton, Bristol, as a residential clinic for women with mental disorders. A year later, she launched the UK’s first school of occupational therapy at the same location. There, she led occupational and artistic therapies for the promotion of psychological wellbeing, including such activities as dance, drama, and countryside excursions.

“The original Dorset House school and treatment facility grew in size, helping around 800 patients between 1929 and 1941. Elizabeth privately financed Dorset House until 1947, after which it became the Elizabeth Casson Trust in 1948.

“As a current medical student, it’s humbling to think we’re following in the footsteps of great medics like Elizabeth, whose drive and tenacity have brought about positive change for future generations.

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The University of Bristol was the first higher education institution in England to welcome women on an equal basis to men, but our commitment to gender equality reaches far beyond this milestone. The wooden panels of the Great Hall in its Wills Memorial Building have been an all-male domain thanks to hosting portraits of its Vice-Chancellors. But now, thanks to a project specially-commissioned to mark 100 years since the first women in Britain won the right to vote, a series of ten portraits redresses the balance and celebrates notable Bristol women who have changed the institution – and, indeed, the world.

Alumni in Queen’s New Year’s honours 2019

Following the announcement of the Queen’s New Year’s Honours list, we’re delighted to congratulate Bristol alumni and staff who have been recognised for their outstanding achievements and service.

CBE       

  • Julia Donaldson MBE (BA 1970, Hon DLitt 2011), Author, for services to Literature.
  • Professor Frederick Hobbs (MBChB 1977), Director of the National Institute for Health Research School for Primary Care Research, Oxford, for services to Medical Research.
  • Dr Claire Stevens (BDS 2000), Consultant in Paediatric Dentistry at Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust and President of the British Society of Paediatric Dentistry, for services to Children.

OBE

  • Paul Lindley (BSc 1989), Entrepreneur and Founder of Ella’s Kitchen, for services to Exports in the Food and Drink Sector and to Children’s Welfare.
  • Professor Helen Margetts (BSc 1983), Professor of Society and the Internet and lately Director of the Oxford Internet Institute, for services to Social and Political Science.
  • Professor David Martin (BSc 1986) Professor of Geography at the University of Southampton, for services to Geography and Population Studies.
  • Louisa Rolfe (BSc 1991) Deputy Chief Constable at the West Midlands Police, for services to Policing.

MBE     

  • Katie Alcott (Hon LLD 2018) Chief Executive Officer at FRANK Water, for services to International Development.

CVO

  • Annabel Dunkels LVO (BA 1978) Director of Communications and Business Development at the Royal Collection.

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If you’re a Bristol graduate and we haven’t listed you here, it may be that we don’t have your details. We’d love to hear from you, so please do get in touch with us at alumni@bristol.ac.uk to share your achievements.

Celebrating women: Bristol’s leading women

To mark the 2018 centenary of the first British women winning the right to vote, we are honouring Bristol women who have changed our institution, and the world. From our first woman lecturer to the first British woman to have won a Nobel Prize, these activists, educators and agitators now take their rightful place on the walls of the Wills Memorial building – along with ten of the women in today’s University community to who continue to be inspired by their legacy.

Winifred Shapland, Registrar of the University of Bristolwith Professor Judith Squires, Pro Vice-Chancellor

“Not only was Winfred the Registrar at the University of Bristol for nearly 20 years (1931 to 1950), she was the first female Registrar of any British university. Both are significant achievements. The Registrar of a university has overall responsibility for all its administrative
staff, enabling the university to deliver its core academic functions. Winfred held this, the most senior professional services role, at a time when universities were led almost exclusively by men. She was a pioneer in the world of higher education, and I am proud the University of Bristol showed its commitment to gender equality from its earliest days by appointing her to the role.

“Winifred was born and educated in Bristol and worked at the University for over 40 years. She joined the University as a secretary to Sir Isambard Owen, who became the first Vice-Chancellor when our Charter was granted in 1909. Eighteen years later she was appointed Secretary of the University and in 1931 became Registrar, shaping the University as it grew into the institution that we would recognise today.

“Winifred is a quietly inspiring figure whose contribution is worthy of celebration. She was a local woman, who dedicated her working life to one institution, but whose legacy rippled across the globe. At her retirement, friends, former colleagues and students from all over the world contributed to her testimonial. She was a professional woman who reached the highest ranks of the University, while displaying huge integrity and humility. At her memorial service, the then Vice-Chancellor noted that Winifred had ‘a rare gift of combining unswerving loyalty with complete candour.

“Her legacy is an important one, reflecting the University’s early and continuing commitment to gender equality and showing generations of women who followed her in higher education that no job is beyond their reach.

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The University of Bristol was the first higher education institution in England to welcome women on an equal basis to men, but our commitment to gender equality reaches far beyond this milestone. The wooden panels of the Great Hall in its Wills Memorial Building have been an all-male domain thanks to hosting portraits of its Vice-Chancellors. But now, thanks to a project specially-commissioned to mark 100 years since the first women in Britain won the right to vote, a series of ten portraits redresses the balance and celebrates notable Bristol women who have changed the institution – and, indeed, the world.

Season’s greetings from Bristol

A festive message from Gary Nott, our Santa and Estates Assistant in the Wills Memorial building.

Do you see what I see?

It’s not the same anywhere else, is it? There’s something different about Bristol…

I’ve seen hundreds of people swing open the big, wooden doors of the Wills Building. I’ve seen our students start out with big eyes and big ideas, running off to lectures. I stood back amazed when earlier this year students clubbed together to send our cleaner on holiday. I watch them graduate, dancing down the steps, off out to change the world, to jet off into space.

I see them come back as alumni like you, full of excitement when they meet their old mates, when I walk them through their memories in the Wills Memorial Tower tours, or get messages on Twitter. They open up their hearts and share their experiences, hoping to give someone the same chances they had. It’s an amazing thing to be a part of.

There’s something here in Bristol. And it’s not in the bricks or buildings or in the water. It’s in the people. It’s a Bristol spirit.

The people who come here, it sparks a fire in them, a passion. And they have it in bucket loads. They want to change the world for the better. And you know what? They are. You are! All around the world.

Every year, I dress up as Santa. Every year, I put up that tree. Week in and week out, I take people on tours around the Wills Building. And I do it because of the Bristol spirit. To see people light up. Bristol is powered by people, people like you, and I’m proud to be one of them.

Here’s to a year filled with Bristol spirit, and many more to come!

Gary Nott
Estates Assistant
Wills Memorial Building

Celebrating women: First British woman to win a Nobel Prize

To mark the 2018 centenary of the first British women winning the right to vote, we are honouring Bristol women who have changed our institution, and the world. From our first woman lecturer to the first British woman to have won a Nobel Prize, these activists, educators and agitators now take their rightful place on the walls of the Wills Memorial building – along with ten of the women in today’s University community to who continue to be inspired by their legacy.

Professor Dorothy Hodgkin, First British woman to win a Nobel Prize and former Chancellor of the University of Bristol, with Lara Lalemi, Chemistry PhD student

“Dorothy was the University’s fifth Chancellor from 1970 to 1988. She was a pioneer in the field of protein crystallography and was the first British woman to win a Nobel Prize, receiving it for Chemistry in 1964.

“Dorothy’s interest in chemistry started when she was just 10 years old and she was one of only two girls at secondary school who were allowed to join the boys as they studied the subject. She went on to achieve a first-class honours degree from the University of Oxford – only the third woman to achieve this distinction.

“She was awarded the Nobel Prize for her pioneering work on protein crystallography and the structures of vitamin B12 and penicillin. Her work helped to unravel the detailed 3D structures of proteins, including insulin, fundamentally shaping our understanding of living organisms. In Bristol, Dorothy is remembered as our second longest serving Chancellor. She proved to be a hands-on Chancellor, attending many University meetings and functions, public lectures and lunching with student officers in the Union.

“Dorothy remains the only British woman to have received a Nobel Prize in any of the three sciences it recognises. Not only was she an amazing scientist, but an icon for many women in science. As someone who has studied her work some 50 years later, I’m struck by its impact and how she managed to achieve such a major breakthrough at a time when so few women were even studying Chemistry, let alone supporting the growth of modern medicine.

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The University of Bristol was the first higher education institution in England to welcome women on an equal basis to men, but our commitment to gender equality reaches far beyond this milestone. The wooden panels of the Great Hall in its Wills Memorial Building have been an all-male domain thanks to hosting portraits of its Vice-Chancellors. But now, thanks to a project specially-commissioned to mark 100 years since the first women in Britain won the right to vote, a series of ten portraits redresses the balance and celebrates notable Bristol women who have changed the institution – and, indeed, the world.

Celebrating women: Leading epidemiologist and founder of the ‘Children of the 90s’ study

To mark the 2018 centenary of the first British women winning the right to vote, we are honouring Bristol women who have changed our institution, and the world. From our first woman lecturer to the first British woman to have won a Nobel Prize, these activists, educators and agitators now take their rightful place on the walls of the Wills Memorial building – along with ten of the women in today’s University community to who continue to be inspired by their legacy.

Professor Jean Golding OBE, Leading epidemiologist and founder of the ‘Children of the 90s’ study, with Professor Kate Robson Brown, Director of the Jean Golding Institute

“Jean overcame much adversity in childhood, including TB and polio, and – despite showing an aptitude for biology – went on to study the more sedentary subject of maths at Oxford University at a time when women were outnumbered ten to one by men. She developed a keen interest in epidemiology (the study of health in a population) and went on to do a PhD in Medical Statistics at
University College London.

“Jean started working here in 1980 and founded the now world-famous Children of 90s study (also known as ALSPAC) in 1989. It has been charting the health and wellbeing of 14,500 mothers and their children since the early 1990s. Almost 30 years later, the three-generation cohort is truly internationally and their data has given the world a wealth of practical wisdom that millions of
people now put into practice every day.

“Jean’s own research has amounted to over 350 peer-reviewed papers, covering a range of factors associated with pregnancy, childhood and parenthood. Although she retired in 2006, Jean remains an active and valuable member of the University community. Her pioneering spirit has shown us where thinking big can lead, which is why we’ve named our data institute after her. Bringing together experts from across the University, we are finding datadriven solutions to societal challenges – an entirely appropriate legacy for a research legend whose impact cannot be underestimated, both within the NHS and internationally.

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The University of Bristol was the first higher education institution in England to welcome women on an equal basis to men, but our commitment to gender equality reaches far beyond this milestone. The wooden panels of the Great Hall in its Wills Memorial Building have been an all-male domain thanks to hosting portraits of its Vice-Chancellors. But now, thanks to a project specially-commissioned to mark 100 years since the first women in Britain won the right to vote, a series of ten portraits redresses the balance and celebrates notable Bristol women who have changed the institution – and, indeed, the world.

£1 million donation to establish a ‘living laboratory’ for livestock

A groundbreaking ‘living laboratory’ for livestock will be established at the Bristol Veterinary School thanks to a £1 million donation from the John Oldacre Foundation. The John Oldacre Centre for Sustainability and Welfare in Dairy Production will tackle the global challenge of ethical food security and train the next generation of vets and agriculturalists to help address the major issues facing agriculture.

The world faces a huge problem of feeding an ever-expanding population with depleting agricultural resources.  At the current growth rate, by 2050 the equivalent of four and a half additional planets will be needed to sustain everyone.  Livestock farming is part of the issue, but more importantly part of the solution.

The John Oldacre Centre for Sustainability and Welfare in Dairy Production, which will be based within Wyndhurst Farm, the University of Bristol’s commercially run dairy unit at Langford, will be equipped with the latest data collection devices such as motion detection, GPS tracking and thermographic sensors to gather data that will identify and support changes in agricultural practices.

The Centre will bring together colleagues from engineering, data and behavioural sciences to use technology, such as motion sensing, to identify small behavioural and physiological changes at the beginning of a disease, such as mastitis. The Vet School is already working with colleagues in Life Sciences, using thermography as a novel way of predicting disease, which can reveal, very quickly, which cow is ill. The earlier a disease can be detected, the easier it is to treat effectively.

As well as being a research resource, the Centre will teach undergraduate and postgraduate students in animal production and livestock research, understanding and communicating data, and engagement with the wider farming community.

In honour of the donation, the School will support postgraduate studentships each year who will benefit from the educational resource that the legacy will provide.

The John Oldacre Centre for Sustainability and Welfare in Dairy Production aims to:

  • identify key problems and new research questions;
  • find new solutions to help address these problems;
  • educate future generations of students and equip them with an understanding in the field of sustainable dairy production and welfare;
  • share the benefits with the UK and global farming community.

Professor Richard Hammond, Head of the Bristol Veterinary School, said: “With over 50 years of world-leading teaching and research in animal welfare and farming, the Bristol Veterinary School can make a vital contribution to this critical challenge.

“Thanks to this generous donation from the John Oldacre Foundation, we can embark on pioneering new research that we hope will play a vital role in advancing sustainable farming and animal welfare and tackle some of the major agriculture issues that face the world today.”

Henry Shouler, Chairman of Trustees of the John Oldacre Foundation, added: “The Trustees of the John Oldacre Foundation are delighted to have entered into an agreement with the Bristol Veterinary School that ensures John’s legacy is maintained in perpetuity through the research and experience of the Foundation scholarship recipients.”

This donation marks a long-standing and greatly valued partnership between the John Oldacre Foundation and the University.  Since 2003, the Foundation has supported the Vet School and helped to make a positive impact on farming practice by improving our understanding of the causes of disease and welfare problems in dairy cattle, sheep, and pigs.

 


Further information

About the John Oldacre Foundation
The John Oldacre Foundation provides financial support for the advancement or promotion, for the public benefit of research and education in agricultural sciences and the publication of the useful results of such research.

 

Shoot for the stars: Anne McClain (MSc 2005)

Our very own star, Anne C. McClain (MSc 2005), will shoot up into space this week with NASA to serve on the International Space Station. 

Anne McClain beat more than 6,100 other applicants to be part NASA’s 2015 class of astronauts – the first graduating class in which the group has been evenly split along gender lines. Anne, a Major in the US Army, is a graduate of the US Military Academy at West Point, New York, and the US Naval Test Pilot School, as well as an OH-58 helicopter pilot.

In an interview with Glamour, Anne said: ‘Wanting to be an astronaut feels more like my destiny. With so much conflict in the world, space exploration can be a beacon of hope. No one cares about race or religion or nationality in space travel. We’re all just part of Team Human.’

She will spend six months on the international Space Station with two other astronauts. The Expedition 58 will work on experiments in biology, biotechnology, physical science and Earth science in an environment not possible on Earth. The crew is also expected to be present on the International Space Station when Boeing conducts its first unmanned test flights to the ISS. It is the first time 100 orbital launches have taken place in a year since 1990.

 

Celebrating women: First female cabinet member in Botswana

To mark the 2018 centenary of the first British women winning the right to vote, we are honouring Bristol women who have changed our institution, and the world. From our first woman lecturer to the first British woman to have won a Nobel Prize, these activists, educators and agitators now take their rightful place on the walls of the Wills Memorial building – along with ten of the women in today’s University community to who continue to be inspired by their legacy.

Dr Gaositwe Chiepe,
First female cabinet member in Botswana
with Samantha Budd,
Chief Executive of Bristol SU

“As the first black woman to be a Chief Executive of a students’ union in the UK at the union that also had the first black President, it makes me proud to learn that our University has among its alumni such a distinguished pioneer as Dr Gaositwe Chiepe.

Gaositwe was the first woman from Botswana to earn both an undergraduate and postgraduate degree, completing her Master’s degree here in 1959. In 1966 she became Botswana’s first director of education and she laid down reforms that transformed the education system such that today Botswana has one of the highest literacy rates in Africa with equally high progression rates from primary through to higher education.

Known as the ‘woman of many firsts’, Gaositwe became the first female African High Commissioner to the United Kingdom in 1970 and the country’s first female cabinet member in 1974. Access to education has long been recognised as an essential requirement for the emancipation and empowerment of women. It is therefore particularly inspiring that Gaositwe has dedicated her life to improving the life chances of so many girls and to ensure that African people, and in particular women, are able to take their seats at tables previously denied them.

Gaositwe is an inspiration who deserves to be recognised and celebrated alongside the other great women whose stories and portraits adorn the walls of this great University.”

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This month, Sam Budd won the Diversity Champion Award for the Education Sector at the 2018 Inclusive Companies Awards.

We were the first higher education institution in England to welcome women on an equal basis to men, but our commitment to gender equality reaches far beyond this milestone. The wooden panels of the Great Hall in its Wills Memorial Building have been an all-male domain thanks to hosting portraits of its Vice-Chancellors. But now, thanks to a project specially-commissioned to mark 100 years since the first women in Britain won the right to vote, a series of ten portraits redresses the balance and celebrates notable Bristol women who have changed the institution – and, indeed, the world.

Made in Bristol: Steve Kay and pursuing passion

As part of our ‘Made in Bristol’ interview series, alumnus Steve Kay (BSc 1981, PhD 1985, Hon DSc 2014) takes us through his journey from Bristol to becoming one of the world’s leading scientists.

My job as a scientist is to come into work each day and see something new in Nature that nobody else has seen before. Engaging the incredible diversity of life that has evolved on this planet makes my hair stand on end some days. Bristol nurtured that awe. I initially went to Oxford to do medicine (and play rugby), but frankly found the classes there rather boring after one term.

I realised I’d gone down the wrong path for me. I wasn’t pursuing my passion. I grew up on the island of Jersey where a myriad of marine creatures would be exposed during very low tides. They fascinated me. One day my elementary teacher brought in a microscope from mainland England and we spent hours with our eyes glued to it, staring at creatures swimming in pond water. That fascination and excitement with natural science couldn’t be matched.

After some reflection, I recalled how much I had enjoyed interviewing with Bristol’s Biochemistry department during campus visits. I contacted the department and entered the following autumn and found it to be absolutely the best place for me – a rigorous curriculum combined with a sense of belonging to an academic family.

I loved it so much, and I am proud to be a “triple” alum. Bristol taught me rigor and discipline in science. Professors like Nigel Brown, Owen Jones and my PhD advisor Trevor Griffiths demanded independent thought (and hard work). But they also valued collaboration and collegiality. These principles have stuck with me throughout my career – how to aggressively pursue the truth, while not taking yourself too seriously.

In terms of opportunity, the USA has a science economy like no other and I was keen to explore new horizons. Over the last 25 years, we have generated a deep knowledge base of how circadian clocks are built and function in a variety of organisms. California remains a hotbed of innovation and a fantastic place to translate our knowledge into products that provide some benefit to mankind. In the case of agriculture, this can be crops that are more resistant to stresses due to climate change. In humans, there is the real possibility of developing drugs that target the clockworks to treat diseases like diabetes and cancer.

If I could give one word of advice to students today it would be to constantly seek out people smarter than yourself to work with. That translated into some wonderful discoveries in my own field, such as identifying many of the key clock genes in plants and humans, that are now relevant to advances in either agriculture or medicine.

I am incredibly grateful to the University for the training and scholarship I received while there, and the memories: walking across the downs in all kinds of weather from Wills Hall to classes every day, (Southern California can make you soft!), picking up cider (“scrumpy”) from our own “Department of Pomology” at the Long Ashton Research station on a Friday afternoon, and meeting the Oxford Dangerous Sports club at a party in Clifton the night before they did the world’s first bungee jump in 1979!

It reminds me that it pays to take a leap into the unknown, to embrace the wrong turns, dust yourself off and get right back in there. Bristol continues to dare to be different, and I very much enjoy staying involved with the University as chairman of the Scientific Advisory Board for BrisSynBio, a world class synthetic biology centre. A good piece of both my heart and brain will always be at the University of Bristol and the wonderful city. Like me, it too is looking for something new, something that nobody else has seen or done before, and that’s an exciting place to be.

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Professor Steve A. Kay (BSc 1981, PhD 1985, Hon DSc 2014) is Director of Convergent Biosciences and Provost Professor of Neurology, Biomedical Engineering and Biological Sciences at the University of Southern California. As one of the world’s top experts on genes and circadian rhythms, he has published more than 200 papers and is named by Thomson-Reuters as a highly cited scientist. He has been cited in Science magazine’s “Breakthroughs of the Year” three times since 1997, and has received numerous awards, including election to the National Academy of Sciences of the USA. Kay has served on the advisory boards to Althea, Bayer AG, Monsanto, Novartis, Toyota Motor Corp and BP, amongst others.