Marjorie Williamson
Dame Elsie Marjorie Williamson,
Education
The only child of middle-aged parents
Early career
She stayed at Royal Holloway as a Demonstrator in
In 1945, she moved to
In 1955 she was appointed Principal of St Mary's College, Durham.
Royal Holloway
This section relies largely or entirely on a single source. (June 2015) |
She was invited to become Principal of
Williamson set out to change this image by admitting men undergraduates and by a comprehensive expansion into new buildings and academic disciplines. She provided a new Students' Union building and revived the religious life of the college by the appointment of four honorary chaplains.
By the time she retired as Principal in 1973, the college had admitted men as undergraduates since 1965 and expanded into new buildings, and staff had been recruited for new departments such as biochemistry, statistics, computer science and music.[3][4]
She was appointed
Personal life
On leaving Royal Holloway, Williamson moved to a small village in Warwickshire, where she was a valued and popular member of the community, taking a close interest in village life and acting as a volunteer for the National Trust at nearby Charlecote Park. She moved again in 1985 to a converted barn in Suffolk, near a lifelong friend, Ann Thomson, also a graduate of Royal Holloway. She died in 2002.
Commemoration
On 28 August 2019 a blue plaque will be unveiled in Dame Marjorie's honour by Wakefield's Forgotten Women project in conjunction with Wakefield Civic Society as part of the city's Festival of the Moon, celebrating the 50th anniversary of the 1969 lunar landing. The Forgotten Women scheme will also honour her achievements by bringing her story to life in a series of performances of a piece entitled Professor Quantum by Wakefield College students.[5]
References
- ^ Who Was Who - subscription based - accessed 29 July 2011
- ^ The Guardian, obituary, 31 August 2002, accessed 27 March 2009
- ^ Janet Knight, Obituary in "The Independent"[dead link], London, UK, 31 August 2002.
- ^ Obituary, Royal Holloway College official website, rhul.ac.uk; accessed 10 June 2015.
- ^ "Blue plaque honour for physicist and lecturer Dame Marjorie as part of moon landing festival". The Yorkshire Post. Retrieved 8 August 2019.