Elizabeth Johnson memorial lecture

Betty Johnson (1936-2003) was a highly respected physicist who worked tirelessly to encourage women into science.

She was instrumental in establishing the Daphne Jackson Trust in 1992. The trust, based in Surrey, implements a fellowship scheme to enable a return to careers in science or engineering through updated knowledge and renewed professional skills. Betty Johnson was awarded an MBE in 2002 in recognition of her services to people returning to careers in science, engineering and technology.

The 2011 lecture will be given by Mary Curnock Cook OBE, the new Chief Executive of UCAS. She will speak about her perspective on the future of higher education and how the vocational skills agenda may impact on this.

Prior to her role at UCAS, Mary was Director of Qualifications and Skills at the Qualifications & Curriculum Development Agency (QCDA, formerly QCA) where she led on qualifications policy and development for the 14-19 Reform Programme including Diplomas, and the UK Vocational Qualifications Reform Programme. Prior to this, she was Chief Executive of BII, the professional body for licensed retailing. Between 1997 and 2001, Mary served as a Council member on the Further Education Funding Council (FEFC). She was a non-executive director of Laurel Pub Company, and Chairman of award-winning e-learning company, Creative Learning Media, both from 2002 - 2005.

The lecture will take place on Wednesday 28 September 2011, at the IOP offices in London, starting with refreshments at 18:30. If you would like to be added to the list of invitees please contact us at diversity@iop.org

Past Lectures

2009
Dr Caroline Pontefract from the Commonwealth Secretariat and Dr Sue Dale Tunnicliffe (The Lady Tunnicliffe), from the Institute of Education and Trustee of CASTME, the Commonwealth Association for Science, Technology and Maths Educators. ‘Commonwealth Secretariat's global plans for promoting science, engineering and maths and the importance of science education for pre-school children.’

2007
Claire Curtis-Thomas MP: ‘Gordon Brown Administers: Translating science into government policy’.

2005
Professor Jean-Patrick Connerade (President of Euroscience), the Lockyer Professor of Physics at Imperial College London: 'Can Science bring Europeans Together?’.