Pauline May Harrison (née Cowan, 24 August 1926 – 28 May 2024) was a British protein crystallographer and professor emeritus at the

University of Sheffield The University of Sheffield (informally Sheffield University or TUOS) is a public university, public research university in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. Its history traces back to the foundation of Sheffield Medical School in 1828, Fir ...

. She gained her chemistry degree from

Somerville College, Oxford Somerville College is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. It was founded in 1879 as Somerville Hall, one of its first two women's colleges. It began admitting men in 1994. The colle ...

in 1948, followed by a DPhil in X-ray crystallography in 1952 supervised by

Dorothy Hodgkin Dorothy Mary Crowfoot Hodgkin (née Crowfoot; 12 May 1910 – 29 July 1994) was a Nobel Prize-winning English chemist who advanced the technique of X-ray crystallography to determine the structure of biomolecules, which became essential for ...

. After three years at

King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public university, public research university in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of George IV of the United Kingdom, King George IV ...

(contemporary with

Rosalind Franklin Rosalind Elsie Franklin (25 July 192016 April 1958) was a British chemist and X-ray crystallographer. Her work was central to the understanding of the molecular structures of DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid), RNA (ribonucleic acid), viruses, coal ...

) she moved to the

in 1955 as a demonstrator in the Biochemistry department (now Molecular Biology and Biotechnology), obtaining an MRC grant to study the iron storage protein

Ferritin Ferritin is a universal intracellular and extracellular protein that stores iron and releases it in a controlled fashion. The protein is produced by almost all living organisms, including archaea, bacteria, algae, higher plants, and animals. ...

, publishing preliminary X-ray diffraction data in the 1st volume of the

Journal of Molecular Biology The ''Journal of Molecular Biology'' is a biweekly peer-reviewed scientific journal covering all aspects of molecular biology. It was established in 1959 by Academic Press in London. It is currently published by Elsevier. The editor-in-chief was P ...

in 1959. The molecule which became her life's work. In 1978, she was awarded a

personal chair Academic ranks in the United Kingdom are the titles, relative seniority and responsibility of employees in universities. In general the country has three academic career pathways: one focused on research, one on teaching, and one that combines ...

and retired in 1991. In 2001 she was appointed a

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

for services to higher education.

Personal life and death

Harrison was the daughter of botanists Adeline May Organe and John Macqueen Cowan, Assistant Keeper of the

Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh The Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (RBGE) is a scientific centre for the study of plants, their diversity and conservation, as well as a popular tourist attraction. Founded in 1670 as a physic garden to grow medicinal plants, today it occupies ...

. She was married to

Royden Harrison Royden John Harrison (3 March 1927 – 30 June 2002) was a British labour historian.Michael Barratt Brown and John Halstead,Obituary: Royden Harrison, ''The Guardian'' (3 July 2002), retrieved 9 December 2019. He was born in London and educated ...

, also a lecturer at Sheffield and a figure in the Labour movement until his death in 2002. Harrison was an alumna of St. Trinnean's School. Harrison died on 28 May 2024, at the age of 97.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Harrison, Pauline 1926 births 2024 deaths Alumni of Somerville College, Oxford British biochemists British crystallographers Academics of the University of Sheffield English biophysicists X-ray crystallography British women biologists British women chemists 20th-century British women scientists 20th-century British scientists 21st-century British women scientists 21st-century British scientists