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International Women's Day: 5 of UCL's most inspirational women

8 March 2017

Today is International Women's Day, celebrating the achievements of women and calling for gender equality across the globe.

Kathleen Lonsdale To mark the occasion, here are just a few of the inspirational women that have been a part of UCL over the past 191 years.

1. Kathleen Lonsdale

Kathleen Lonsdale (1903-1971) graduated from UCL with an MSc in Physics in 1924. She went on to specialise in crystallography, discovering the chemical structure of benzene and hexochlorobenzene - this had a major impact on organic chemistry at the time. In 1949, Kathleen became UCL's first-ever female professor and Head of the Department of Crystallography. She was also one of the first women to be elected a Fellow of the Royal Society and the first female president of the British Association for the Advancement of Science.

2. Christine Ohuruogu

Christine Ohuruogu

Track and field athlete Christine Ohuruogu graduated in Linguistics in 2005. Specialising in the 400 metres, she became the first-ever British female Olympic Champion in the event at the 2008 Games in Beijing. She followed that up with a silver medal at the 2012 Games in London and has won two further bronze medals in the 4 x 400m relay. Christine also became the first British woman to win three global titles when she became World Champion for the second time in 2013, breaking the 29-year-old British record in the process.

3. Eliza Orme

Eliza Orme

Eliza Orme (1848-1937) became the first woman in England to earn a law degree when she graduated from UCL Laws with an LLB in 1888. Eliza was already working in the field of law prior to her studies, though in a support role as it was the only legal employment open to women at the time. While studying, she set up chambers with fellow student Mary Richardson and later worked on a public enquiry into women's employment and an official review of women's prison experiences - these drew upon her dedicated support for women's rights and opportunities.

4. Rachel Whiteread

Rachel Whiteread

Sculptor Rachel Whiteread graduated with an MA from the UCL Slade School of Fine Art in 1987. In 1993, she became the first female winner of the Turner Prize - the renowned annual visual arts award for an outstanding exhibition - for House, a life-sized concrete cast of the inside of a Victorian terrace house that was due for demolition. The sculpture was exhibited on the site of the original building, at 193 Grove Road in east London. Rachel has continued to create acclaimed works, including Embankment, which exhibited in the Tate Modern's Turbine Hall.

5. Amelia Edwards

Amelia Edwards

Novelist, traveller and Egyptologist Amelia Edwards (1831-1892) played a pivotal role in the establishment of the UCL Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology. Arguably the "true founder" of the museum, Amelia's impressive collection of Egyptian artefacts is believed to make up a substantial proportion of those held at UCL following their transfer when she died. As well as a passion for Egyptology, Amelia also wrote short stories for Charles Dickens and was celebrated for her stance on women's suffrage and education. A plaster cast bust of Amelia sits at the entrance to the museum.

Image credits

  • Eliza Orme - Professor Pierre Coustillas / Professor Leslie Howsam (University of Windsor, Canada)
  • Rachel Whiteread - part of the First Women project, by Anita Corbin
  • Amelia Edwards - Principal and Fellows of Somerville College, Oxford