Mary Jean Garson is a British-Australian organic chemist and academic. She is an Emerita Professor in the School of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences at the

University of Queensland The University of Queensland is a Public university, public research university located primarily in Brisbane, the capital city of the Australian state of Queensland. Founded in 1909 by the Queensland parliament, UQ is one of the six sandstone ...

Early life

Garson was born in Rugby, England, the daughter of an engineer and botanist. She took her B.A with Honours from the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

, Newnham College in 1974. Garson's focus was the natural sciences, specializing in chemistry. She obtained an MA in Natural Sciences and she took her PhD in organic chemistry from Cambridge in 1977.

Career

Garson won a

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 ...

postdoctoral fellowship after her PhD, undertaking research in Rome, Italy from 1977 to 1978. She continued her research at

New Hall New Hall may refer to: * New Hall, Fazakerley, a historic complex that was originally a model village, in Liverpool, England * New Hall, Woodford, a 17th-century cottage in Woodford, Greater Manchester, England * New Hall moated site, a scheduled ...

at Cambridge on a college research fellowship from 1978 to 1981. She worked as a medicinal chemist from 1981 to 1983 at Smith Kline and French Research Ltd in Welwyn, England,. Garson won a Queen Elizabeth II Research Fellowship from

James Cook University James Cook University (JCU) is a public university in North Queensland, Australia. The second oldest university in Queensland, JCU is a teaching and research institution. The university's main campuses are located in the tropical cities of Cair ...

(1983–1986), based in the Townsville region to research the bioactive organic chemicals in marine organisms. In Townsville, she undertook dive training to study on the

Great Barrier Reef The Great Barrier Reef is the world's largest coral reef system, composed of over 2,900 individual reefs and 900 islands stretching for over over an area of approximately . The reef is located in the Coral Sea, off the coast of Queensland, ...

. Garson then took a teaching/research position as the first female academic in chemistry at the

University of Wollongong The University of Wollongong (UOW) is an Australian public university, public research university located in the coastal city of Wollongong, New South Wales, approximately south of Sydney. , the university had an enrolment of more than 33,000 s ...

, before moving to the

as a lecturer in 1990. She was promoted to Senior Lecturer in 1992 and Reader in 1998. She researches and publishes on the structure, biosynthesis and function of natural products, especially those from marine invertebrates and other microorganisms. She also researches the chemistry of South East Asian medicinal plants. Garson was promoted to Professor in the School of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences in 2006, and has served as Deputy Head of the School from 2005 to 2009. Since 2021, she is an Emeritus Professor of Chemistry at the university.

Awards and honours

*2009 – Our Women, Our State (Queensland Government) – Highly Commended *2011 – Leighton Medal of the Royal Australian Chemical Institute, in recognition of her contributions and leadership to the chemistry community, within Australia and overseas. *2013 – Distinguished Woman in Chemistry or Chemical Engineering award of the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry *2014 – named as one of "175 Faces of Chemistry" by the Royal Society of Chemistry, UK *2017 – inaugural Margaret Sheil Women in Chemistry Leadership award of the Royal Australian Chemical Institute *2018 - Royal Society of Chemistry, Australasian lecturer (by invitation) *2019 –

Member of the Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an Australian honours and awards system, Australian honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Monarch ...

(AM) in the Australia Day Honours for "significant service to education, particularly to organic chemistry, and as an advocate for women in science". *2023 – named as a Distinguished Fellow of the Royal Australian Chemical Institute *2024 – elected Fellow of the

Australian Academy of Science The Australian Academy of Science was founded in 1954 by a group of distinguished Australians, including Australian Fellows of the Royal Society of London. The first president was Sir Mark Oliphant. The academy is modelled after the Royal Soci ...

A species of marine flatworm, discovered at Heron Island, is named for her ''Maritigrella marygarsonae''.

Memberships

*President-Royal Australian Chemical Institute (Queensland Division) *Chair, International Relations Committee of RACI *Member, National Committee for Chemistry *Executive Secretary, World Chemistry Congress/IUPAC General Assembly (2001) *Chair, Board of Australian Science Innovations *Organiser, Chemistry-Biotechnology Symposium at World Chemistry Congress (Torino, 2007); 27th International Symposium on the Chemistry of Natural Products (Brisbane, 2011) *Organiser, Women sharing a Chemical Moment in Time, International Year of Chemistry (2011) *Leadership roles in Division III (organic and biomolecular) of International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) as Titular Member (2006-2007), Secretary (2008-2011), President-elect (2012–2013), Division President and Bureau Member (2014–2015), then as Past-President (2016-2017) *Elected to Membership of the Bureau of the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (2018-2021) *Co-chair IUPAC100 (centennial) Management Committee (2016-2019) *Co-convenor of Women's Global Breakfast networking event held in over 100 countries since 2019; the theme for the 2024 breakfast event on February 27 is "Catalyzing Change in Chemistry" *Incoming Vice-President/President-elect, and Chair of the Science Board, of the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry for 2024-2025

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Garson, Mary 1953 births Living people 21st-century Australian chemists Australian women chemists Organic chemists Alumni of Newnham College, Cambridge Academic staff of the University of Queensland Members of the Order of Australia English emigrants to Australia Fellows of the Australian Academy of Science