- Entry type: Person
- Entry ID: AWE0038
Freeman, Joan
(1918 – 1998)- Born 7 January 1918, Perth, Western Australia, Australia
- Died 18 March 1998
- Occupation Physicist
Summary
In 1976 Joan Freeman became the first woman to be awarded the British Institute of Physics’ Rutherford Medal. She began her career at CSIR Radiophysics Laboratory during World War II, working on the production of a 10cm microwave radar set, and spent most of her working life at the British Atomic Energy Research Establishment at Harwell.
Details
Freeman was educated at the University of Sydney, where she completed a Bachelor of Science in 1939 and Master of Science in 1943.
She worked with the CSIR Radiophysics Laboratory 1941-46; the Cavendish Laboratory, Cambridge 1946-51; and the Van de Graaff Accelerator Group, Harwell Nuclear Physics Division 1951-78.
Freeman was awarded the Rutherford Medal, British Institute of Physics, in 1976. SCEGGS Darlinghurst has a science, art and technology centre named in her honour.
Archival resources
Published resources
-
Resource Section
- A Passion for Physics; Joan Freeman, Sherratt, Tim, 1993, http://www.asap.unimelb.edu.au/bsparcs/exhib/journal/as_freeman.htm
- Journal Article
-
Article
- Dr. Joan Freeman (Address for the Gordon Godfrey Inaugural Lecture - May 1993), 1993, http://www.wisenet-australia.org/profiles/jfreeman.htm
-
Resource
- Where are the Women in Australian science?, Australian Science and Technology Heritage Centre, 2003, http://www.austehc.unimelb.edu.au/wisa/wisa.html
- Trove: Freeman, Joan (1918-1998), http://nla.gov.au/nla.party-754071
- Book