If you don’t know who Kathleen Lonsdale was, you should.

Lonsdale was a hugely important chemist (in the field of crystallography), an outspoken political activist and president of what is now the British Science Association. She was also, from 1949, the first woman to become a professor at UCL.

BBC Woman’s Hour interviewed her in 1967, shortly before she retired from UCL. The programme, available on iPlayer, is well worth a listen.

Lonsdale retired from UCL in 1968, and died in 1971, but she is commemorated in the name of the Kathleen Lonsdale Building on Gower Place. This building houses many of UCL’s science labs.

Lonsdale is remembered in the name of the Kathleen Lonsdale Building, which houses many of UCL’s science labs. Photo: Gnesener1900 – CC-BY-SA

Thanks to Joe Cain for bringing this to our attention.