Name Julia Higgins | Fields Polymer science | |
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Born Julia Stretton Downes
1 July 1942 (age 81) ( 1942-07-01 ) Institutions Imperial College London
University of Manchester
Institut Laue–Langevin Alma mater Somerville College, Oxford (MA, DPhil) Notable awards Order of the British Empire, Royal Society, Royal Academy of Engineering Institution Imperial College London, University of Manchester, Institut Laue–Langevin | ||
Dame Julia Stretton Higgins DBE FRS HonFRSC FREng (née Downes; born 1 July 1942) is a polymer scientist. Since 1976 she has been based at the Department of Chemical Engineering at Imperial College London, where (since 2007) she is Emeritus Professor and Senior Research Investigator.
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Education
Higgins was educated at Somerville College, Oxford where she was awarded Master of Arts and DPhil degrees. Also educated at Ursuline High School, Wimbledon
Career
Higgins chaired the Advisory Committee on Mathematics Education (ACME) from 2008-2012. 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 the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council. Higgins was president of the Institution of Chemical Engineers 2002–3, and president of the British Association for the Advancement of Science 2003–4. She was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1995 and was its Foreign Secretary 2001-06.
She is a Fellow of the Institution of Chemical Engineers, Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining, the Royal Academy of Engineering, and the City and Guilds of London Institute, of which she is Vice-President. She is an Honorary Fellow of the Institute of Physics, Royal Society of Chemistry, and Somerville College, Oxford.
She was awarded a CBE in 1996 before being named a dame in the 2001 Queen's Birthday Honours list. Dame Julia replaced Professor Adrian Smith FRS 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 the University of Melbourne, Australia. Her scientific work has concentrated on the investigation of polymers with neutron scattering. She co-authored a monograph on that field (Higgins & Benoit 1997).
In April 2003 she became Chairman of the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council. She was succeeded by John Armitt on 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 the ESPCI ParisTech Scientific Committee, and "Scientist in Residence" for the first symposium in 2006 in Crans-Montana (Switzerland).
She is a Patron of WISE, a charitable organisation that encourages young women to pursue careers in Science, Engineering and Construction. as well as a member of the Advisory Council for the Campaign for Science and Engineering.
She is currently elected to serve as President-elect of the Institute of Physics from 1 October 2015 to 30 September 2017 and President from 1 October 2017 to 30 September 2019.
Awards and honours
Higgins was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1989. Her nomination reads:
Other awards and honours include: