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.

Biography

Daphne Frances Jackson was born in

Peterborough Peterborough ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in the City of Peterborough district in the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Cambridgeshire, England. The city is north of London, on the River Nene. A ...

; 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, also known as Imperial, is a public research university in London, England. Its history began with Prince Albert, husband of Queen Victoria, who envisioned a cultural district in South Kensington that included museums ...

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, royal charter in 1966, along with a Plate glass university, number of other institutions following recommendations ...

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 The Met Office, until November 2000 officially the Meteorological Office, is the United Kingdom's national weather and climate service. It is an executive agency and trading fund of the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology and ...

. 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 not-for-profit learned society and professional body that works to advance physics education, physics research, research and applied physics, application. It was founded in 1874 and has a worldwide ...

, 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 Maria Salomea Skłodowska-Curie (; ; 7 November 1867 – 4 July 1934), known simply as Marie Curie ( ; ), was a Polish and naturalised-French physicist and chemist who conducted pioneering research on radioactivity. She was List of female ...

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 The Royal Marsden Hospital is a specialist National Health Service oncology hospital in London based at two sites in Brompton, in Kensington and Chelsea, and Belmont in Sutton. It is managed by The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust and supp ...

. 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, England, around south-west 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 nam ...

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 Widening participation (WP) in higher education can be a component of government education policy. It consists of an attempt to increase the number of young people entering higher education, and improve equality of opportunity for students from al ...

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 A blue plaque is a permanent sign installed in a public place in the United Kingdom, and certain other countries and territories, to commemorate a link between that location and a famous person, event, or former building on the site, serving a ...

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 20th-century English women engineers 20th-century English engineers Women nuclear physicists Presidents of the Women's Engineering Society 20th-century English women scientists 20th-century English scientists English nuclear physicists