Rachel Makinson

Kathleen Rachel Makinson (née White) (15 February 1917 - 18 October 2014) was an Australian research scientist. She held a number of prominent positions within Australia's Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization(CSIRO). She began work in the Division of Textile Physics in 1953, and was a senior principal research scientist from 1971-1977. She was the first woman to become a chief research scientist at CSIRO (1977-1982). From 1979-1982 she was the assistant chief of the division, also the first woman to hold such a position.

In 1981, she was elected a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering; in 1982 she was made a Member of the Order of Australia (AM).