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Blackwood, Margaret (1909 - 1986)

Dame, DBE, MBE
Go to Gallery Page Blackwood, Margaret
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Botanist, Geneticist and Servicewoman
Born: 26 April 1909  South Yarra, Victoria, Australia.  Died: 1986.

Margaret Blackwood graduated from the University of Melbourne with a BSc in 1938 and MSc in 1940. During the Second World War she served with the Women's Auxiliary Australian Air Force and then was granted an ex-service postgraduate scholarship for Cambridge, where she gained a PhD for her work in plant genetics. In 1951 Blackwood returned to Melbourne and was a senior lecturer at the University of Melbourne until 1974. She was then elected a member of the University Council and in 1980 became the first female Deputy Chancellor. She held both these positions until her retirement in 1983. She was appointed as a Member of the British Empire in 1964 for work in botany and was appointed a Dame (Order of the British Empire - Dames Commander) for her services to education in 1980.


Career Highlights

Chronology
26 April 1909

Born daughter of Robert Leslie and Muriel Pearl (née Henry) Blackwood

1932 - 1933

Senior science mistress at Lowther Hall CEGGS

1934 - 1938

Senior science mistress at Korowa CEGGS

1938

University of Melbourne demonstrator and Howitt Research Student

1939 - 1941

Demonstrator and Caroline Kay Research Scholarship Plant Cytology and Genetics at the University of Melbourne

15 March 1941

Joined Women's Auxiliary Australian Air Force (WAAAF) at inception as airwoman

27 March 1941

Commissioned WAAAF

1942

Commanding Officer at No 1 WAAAF Training Depot

1942 - 1944

Officer-in-charge, with rank of Squadran Officer, WAAAF Training

1945

Staff Officer with WAAAF Western Area

January 1946

Discharged from Women's Auxiliary Australian Air Force with the rank of Wing Officer

1947 - 1948

Dean of Women, Mildura Branch, Melbourne University

1957 - 1958

Australian Chairman of the Soroptimist International Association

1958 - 1959

Carnegie Scholar for Cambridge University in England

1961 - 1974

Chairman of the Melbourne University Council and Founder Fellow of the Janet Clarke Hall at the University of Melbourne

1975 - 1986

Member of the Council of the University of Melbourne

 
Sources used to compile this entry: Who's Who in Australia, 1983, p. 107.
 
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Published Resources

Book Sections

  • Carey, Jane, 'Women and science at the University of Melbourne: reflections on the career of Dame Margaret Blackwood', in Working papers: The University of Melbourne. History of the University Project, vol. 2, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, 1996. [ Details... ]
  • Falk, Barbara, 'Margaret Blackwood', in Radi, Heather (ed.), 200 Australian women, Women's Redress Press Inc, Broadway, NSW, 1988, pp. 224-225. [ Details... ]

Newspaper Articles

  • Ross, Caroline, 'A learned start to discovery day', The Sun, 30 June 1983, p. 46. [ Details... ]

Online Resources

See also

  • Australian Science and Technology Heritage Centre, 'Where are the Women in Australian science?', 22 August 2003, http://www.austehc.unimelb.edu.au/wisa/wisa.html. [ Details... ]
  • Draper, W J (ed.), Who's who in Australia 1983, 24 edn, The Herald and Weekly Times, Melbourne, 1983, 960 pp. [ Details... ]
  • Gillison, Joan M, A History of the Lyceum Club Melbourne, The Lyceum Club, Melbourne, 1975, 118 pp. [ Details... ]
  • Public Broadcasting Association of Australia, Another time/place [sound recording], Melbourne : National Programme Service. [ Details... ]
  • Thomson, Joyce A, The WAAAF in Wartime Australia, Melbourne University Press, Carlton, Vic., 1992, 422 pp. [ Details... ]

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Structure based on ISAAR(CPF) - click here for an explanation of the fields.Prepared by: Anne Heywood
Created: 23 January 2002
Modified: 13 December 2005

Published by National Foundation for Australian Women on Australian Women's Archives Project Web Site
Comments, questions, corrections and additions: awap@womenaustralia.info
Prepared by: Acknowledgements
Updated: 19 June 2008
http://womenaustralia.info/biogs/AWE0244b.htm

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