Biography of Daphne Jackson
Daphne Jackson graduated in physics from Imperial College in 1958. She moved to Battersea College of Technology (now the University of Surrey) where she began her research in theoretical nuclear physics and was awarded a PhD in 1962.
Professor Jackson was appointed Professor of Physics at Surrey in 1971 – the first women professor of physics in the UK. Later, she became Dean of the Faculty of Science at the University of Surrey. As well as being a distinguished physicist in nuclear, medical and radiation physics, she served on such diverse bodies as the Institute of Physics, the Women’s Engineering Society, the University Grants Committee, the Board of the Meteorological Office and regional and district health authorities.
Daphne Jackson was also a lifelong campaigner, encouraging women into engineering and science. She met talented individuals (mostly women) reduced to taking low-level jobs because they needed retraining to return to the workplace after a career break. In 1985, Professor Jackson devised a Fellowships scheme for returners and launched a pilot project to help individuals get back to their chosen careers after having a family, caring for elderly relatives or because of their partner’s relocation. Following her untimely death in 1991, the Daphne Jackson Trust was established in 1992 in her memory to continue her inspired work.
“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.”
Daphne Jackson