BLACKWOOD, Dame MARGARET (1909-1986), botanist and geneticist, was born on 26
April 1909 at South Yarra, Melbourne, second of three children of Tasmanian-born
parents Robert Leslie Blackwood, schoolteacher, and his wife Muriel Pearl, née
Henry. (Sir) Robert Blackwood was Margaret’s elder brother. Her mother had been a
teacher before marriage, and from 1920 her father was classics tutor and
sub-warden of Trinity College, University of Melbourne. Growing up in `a scholarly
environment’, she attended Melbourne Church of England Girls’ Grammar School,
which emphasised academic attainment and encouraged scientific studies. Her
biology teacher, Dorothy Ross, was inspiring.
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Australian Dictionary of Biography Online
Margaret Blackwood graduated from the University of Melbourne with a BSc in 1938 and MSc in 1940. During the Second World War she served with the Women's Auxiliary Australian Air Force and then was granted an ex-service postgraduate scholarship for Cambridge, where she gained a PhD for her work in plant genetics. In 1951 Blackwood returned to Melbourne and was a senior lecturer at the University of Melbourne until 1974. She was then elected a member of the University Council and in 1980 became the first female Deputy Chancellor. She held both these positions until her retirement in 1983. She was appointed as a Member of the British Empire in 1964 for work in botany and was appointed a Dame (Order of the British Empire - Dames Commander) for her services to education in 1980.
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26 April 1909
Born daughter of Robert Leslie and Muriel Pearl (née Henry) Blackwood
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1932 - 1933
Senior science mistress at Lowther Hall CEGGS
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1934 - 1938
Senior science mistress at Korowa CEGGS
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1938
University of Melbourne demonstrator and Howitt Research Student
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1939 - 1941
Demonstrator and Caroline Kay Research Scholarship Plant Cytology and Genetics at the University of Melbourne
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15 March 1941
Joined Women's Auxiliary Australian Air Force (WAAAF) at inception as airwoman
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27 March 1941
Commissioned WAAAF
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1942
Commanding Officer at No 1 WAAAF Training Depot
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1942 - 1944
Officer-in-charge, with rank of Squadran Officer, WAAAF Training
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1945
Staff Officer with WAAAF Western Area
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January 1946
Discharged from Women's Auxiliary Australian Air Force with the rank of Wing Officer
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1947 - 1948
Dean of Women, Mildura Branch, Melbourne University
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1957 - 1958
Australian Chairman of the Soroptimist International Association
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1958 - 1959
Carnegie Scholar for Cambridge University in England
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1961 - 1974
Chairman of the Melbourne University Council and Founder Fellow of the Janet Clarke Hall at the University of Melbourne
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1975 - 1986
Member of the Council of the University of Melbourne
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Australian Women's Register
(Dame) Margaret Blackwood was Lecturer in Botany after World War II and was Dean of Women at the Mildura Branch of the University of Melbourne. She was at Cambridge 1948-50 before returning to Melbourne where she was a Senior Lecturer until her retirement in 1975.
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1939 - 1941
Career position - Caroline Kay Research Scholar in Plant Cytology and Genetics
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1941 - 1946
Career position - Women's Auxiliary Australian Air Force (WAAAF), rising to Wing Officer
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1946 - 1948
Career position - Lecturer in Botany and Dean of Women at the Mildura Branch of the University of Melbourne
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1948 - 1950
Career position - Newnham College at Cambridge
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1951 - 1975
Career position - Senior Lecturer at the University of Melbourne
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1957 - 1958
Career position - Australian and New Zealand Chairman of Soroptimist International Association
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1964
Award - Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE)
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1975
Life event - Retired
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1975 - 1983
Career position - Member of the University Council
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1981
Award - Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE)
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1981 - 1983
Career position - Deputy Vice-Chancellor at the University of Melbourne
View the full record at
Encyclopedia of Australian Science