Dame Julia Stretton Higgins(néeDownes;born 1 July 1942) is a Britishpolymer scientist.Since 1976, she has been based at the Department ofChemical EngineeringatImperial College London,where (since 2007) she isemeritusprofessor and senior research investigator.[1][3][4][5][6][7]
Dame Julia Higgins | |
|---|---|
 Higgins in 2019 | |
| Born | Julia Stretton Downes 1 July 1942[1] |
| Alma mater | Somerville College, Oxford(MA,DPhil) |
| Awards |
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| Scientific career | |
| Fields | |
| Institutions | |
| Thesis | Inelastic scattering of neutrons from clathrate inclusion compounds and molecules in molecular sieves(1968) |
| Website | www |
Education
editHiggins was educated at theUrsuline High School, WimbledonandSomerville College, Oxfordwhere she was awardedMaster of ArtsandDPhildegrees.[8][9][10]
Career
editIn 1999, Higgins was elected as a member of theNational Academy of Engineeringfor the application of neutron scattering and reflectivity to polymeric materials, and for service to the scientific community.
Higgins chaired theAdvisory Committee on Mathematics Education(ACME) from 2008 to 2012. She is also a former chair (1998–2003) of the Athena Project, which aims for the advancement of women in science, engineering and technology (SET), in Higher Education. Between 2003 and 2007, she was also chair of theEngineering and Physical Sciences Research Council.Higgins was president of theInstitution of Chemical Engineers2002–03, and president of theBritish Association for the Advancement of Science2003–04. She was elected aFellow of the Royal Societyin 1995,[9]and was its foreign secretary 2001–06.[9]
She is a Fellow of the Institution of Chemical Engineers,Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining,theRoyal Society of Chemistryand theRoyal Academy of Engineering,[11]and theCity and Guilds of London Institute,of which she is Vice-President. She is an honorary fellow of theInstitute of Physicsand ofSomerville College, Oxford.[12]
She was appointed aCBEin 1996, before being named a dame in the 2001Queen's Birthday Honourslist.[13]Dame Julia replaced ProfessorAdrian SmithFRS as ACME Chair in September 2008 when Adrian became Director General of Science and Research at the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills. She holds honorary degrees from a number of UK universities and theUniversity of Melbourne,Australia. Her scientific work has concentrated on the investigation of polymers withneutron scattering.[3]She co-authored a monograph on that field (Higgins & Benoit 1997).[14]
In April 2003, she became chair of theEngineering and Physical Sciences Research Counciland was succeeded byJohn Armitton 1 April 2007. In June 2006, Higgins was appointed principal of the Faculty of engineering at Imperial College London. The Faculty of engineering at Imperial College is one of the largest in the UK, comprising nine departments with 1,000 staff, over 4,200 students and an annual turnover of around £80 million. She is a member of the World Knowledge Dialogue Scientific Board, president of theESPCI ParisTechScientific Committee.[15]
She is a Patron ofWISE,a charitable organisation that encourages young women to pursue careers in Science, engineering and Construction,[16]as well as a member of the Advisory Council for theCampaign for Science and Engineering.[17]
She served as president of theInstitute of Physicsfrom 1 October 2017 to 30 September 2019.[18]
Awards and honours
editHiggins was elected a Fellow of theRoyal Societyin 1989. Her nomination reads:
After obtaining a first degree in Physics the candidate undertook research in the field ofPhysical Chemistry.She started usingneutron scatteringas a tool for investigating molecular structure and dynamics at this stage, first applying the techniques to the study ofpolymerswhile apost-doctoral research assistantin theChemistry Department at Manchester.She was closely involved with the development of new techniques, their application inPolymer Scienceand the formation of an international community of scientists using these techniques while employed as a Physicist at theInstitut Laue-Langevin,Grenoble.[9] Since [sic] returning to the UK at Imperial she has built an internationally recognised group. She is well-known for her studies of the dynamics of polymer molecules, especially in the bulk state and, more recently thethermodynamicsand demixing processes in polymer blends. Dr Higgins has a wonderful ability for recognizing when a new area of polymer science is ripe for experimental study and has a row of 'firsts' to her credit.[19]
Other awards and honours include:
- Principal of the Faculty of engineering (2006–07)
- Chair of the engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (2003 – April 2007)
- Trustee,National Galleryuntil 2010[20]
- Trustee,Daphne Jackson Trust
- Fellowof theRoyal Academy of Engineering[11]
- Foreign member of theNational Academy of Engineeringof the United States
- Chevalier de la Légion d'honneurin 2003
- President,British Association for the Advancement of Sciencefrom 2003 until 2004.
- Received an honorary doctorate fromHeriot-Watt Universityin 2000[21]
- She is a foreign member of theNational Academy of Engineeringof the United States. She was namedDame Commander of the Order of the British Empire(DBE) in the2001 Birthday Honours.In March 2010, theUKRCannounced Professor Higgins as one of sixWomen of Outstanding Achievementin Science, engineering and Technology.[22]
- A portrait of her by Tess Barnes was unveiled in June 2014 at Imperial College.[23]
- In 1999 she was elected aFellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering(FREng).[11]
- She was chair of the Royal Society's 2008 State of the Nation Report Steering Group for 'Science and mathematics education 14–19'.[24]
- In 2016, she was interviewed byJim Al-KhalilionThe Life Scientific.[10]
- Awarded theSir Frank Whittle Medalby the Royal Academy of engineering in 2020 "for her sustained excellence in polymer engineering".[25]
References
edit- ^ab"HIGGINS, Dame Julia (Stretton)".Who's Who.Vol. 2014 (online edition viaOxford University Pressed.). A & C Black.(Subscription orUK public library membershiprequired.)
- ^Higgins, Julia (2011)."Professor Dame Julia Higgins"(PDF).National Life Stories: An Oral History of British Science(Interview). Interviewed by Thomas Lean. The British Library. Ref no: C1379/55.
- ^abJulia Higgins's publicationsindexed by theScopusbibliographic database.(subscription required)
- ^"Dame Julia Higgins profile".Retrieved18 April2014.
- ^Professor Dame Julia Higgins' profileArchived24 September 2015 at theWayback Machine,Ingenia,September 2007
- ^Symposium Opening speech by Julia Higgins 2008onYouTube
- ^The Royal Society's The Vision Committee's Vision for the future of Science and Maths EducationonYouTube,chaired by Julia Higgins
- ^Higgins, Julia Stretton (1968).Inelastic scattering of neutrons from clathrate inclusion compounds and molecules in molecular sieves.bodleian.ox.ac.uk(DPhil thesis). University of Oxford.
- ^abcd"Life Stories in association with the British Library"(PDF).Sounds.bl.uk.Retrieved1 December2016.
- ^abAl-Khalili, Jim(2016)."Julia Higgins on polymers, interview on The Life Scientific".bbc.co.uk.London: BBC.
- ^abc"List of Fellows".Royal Academy of Engineering. Archived fromthe originalon 2 April 2019.Retrieved2 July2022.
- ^"Professor Dame Julia Higgins".Retrieved21 April2018.
- ^"The Queen's birthday Honours".News.bbc.co.uk.2001.Retrieved17 April2014.
- ^"Somerville College Oxford web-site".Some.ox.ac.uk.Retrieved1 December2016.
- ^"ESPCI Paris: Conseil scientifique international".Espci.fr.Archived fromthe originalon 20 July 2011.Retrieved10 March2017.
- ^"About Us".Archived fromthe originalon 31 December 2008.Retrieved22 December2008.
- ^"Advisory Council of the Campaign for Science and Engineering".Sciencecampaign.org.uk.Archived fromthe originalon 28 August 2010.Retrieved11 February2011.
- ^"Dame Julia Higgins to be the IOP's next president-elect".Iop.org.Retrieved10 July2015.
- ^"EC/1995/11: Higgins, Dame Julia Stretton".London, UK: The Royal Society. Archived fromthe originalon 31 July 2014.
- ^"Board of Trustees".National Gallery. 2010.Retrieved17 April2014.
- ^"Heriot-Watt University Edinburgh: Honorary Graduates".1.hw.ac.uk.Archived fromthe originalon 18 April 2016.Retrieved4 April2016.
- ^"THE uk's MOST OUTSTANDING WOMEN IN SET ANNOUNCED: News from UK Resource Centre for Women (UKRC)".Archived fromthe originalon 21 July 2011.Retrieved19 November2010.
- ^"Imperial unveils historic portrait of leading female scientist".3.imperial.ac.uk.23 June 2014.Retrieved10 March2017.
- ^"State of the Nation: Science and mathematics education 14–19".royalsociety.org.2008.Retrieved1 January2020.
- ^"Sir Frank Whittle Medal".Retrieved14 September2020.