President Alice Gast unveiled three portraits of celebrated Imperial women in the Garden Room this week.

Professor Dorothy Griffiths, the Provost’s Envoy for Gender Equality, worked alongside the College’s Provost, Professor James Stirling, to ensure that more portraits of pioneering female scientists exist across Imperial.

During the unveiling, President Gast praised the efforts of Professor Dame Julia Higgins, Senior Research Investigator, as well as the College’s Archivist and Corporate Records Manager Anne Barrett, for "working tirelessly to increase the visibility of women at Imperial."

Curiosity, passion and persistence

President Gast also thanked the artist behind the paintings, Tess Barnes, who has a great interest in painting women who work in science.

“I was delighted to be commissioned to paint  these wonderful women," Tess said.

"There was a lot of laughter and brilliant chats about life and the universe. Whilst painting portraits of individuals that work in STEM fields for my exhibition ‘Discover STEM’, I’ve become aware of how similar art and STEM subjects are – they both involve great curiosity, passion and persistence.”

Tess has painted Professor Dame Julia Higgins and Professor Dorothy Griffins individually, and produced a three-in-one portrait of Professor Michelle Dougherty, Professor Jo Haigh and Professor Jenny Nelson.

Professor Dame Julia Higgins: “The River By Which She Lives”

A view of the River Thames forms the background of Professor Higgins' portrait, and her scarf represents her involvement in the High Polymer Research Group. Its pattern resembles a polyethylene module, reflecting her work as a polymer scientist. The lapel badge represents the Royal Academy of Engineering, while the three books by her side represent institutions central to her career, including Somerville College in Oxford, 'The History of Imperial College London 1907 - 2007' by Hannah Gay, and the Royal Society.

Professor Higgins began her Imperial career in 1976 as a Lecturer in the Department of Chemical Engineering.

Throughout her career, she has championed the cause of women in physics, from her role as the first Chair of the Athena Project in 1998 - 2003, to patron of Women in Science and Engineering.

In 2010, she was named as one of six Women of Outstanding Achievement in Science, Engineering and Technology by the then UK Resource Centre for Women in Science.

Professor Higgins was also the first woman to be awarded Fellowship of both the Royal Society and Royal Academy of Engineering, and is currently the President of the Institute of Physics.

Professor Dot Griffiths: “Of Books and Her Beloved Cats”

Professor Dot Griffiths’ portrait shows her sitting in her private study with her cats and books of significance to her, including a book she commissioned titled 'Women at Imperial College Past, Present and Future' by the College’s Archivist Anne Barrett, and 'The Feminist Review' .

Professor Griffiths was formerly Dean of the Business School and is now the Provost’s Envoy for Gender Equality at Imperial, as well as being Chair of Central North West London NHS Foundation Trust.

She has a long term interest in the position of women in management, science and technology and has led a number of activities in this area on behalf of the College, including her present role. She was a founding editor of Feminist Review and is now Chair of the Feminist Review Trust.

The Department of Physics: three female Fellows of the Royal Society

In this portrait, Professor Michele Dougherty's is seen with Saturn above her head, and the magnetometer she designed for the Cassini-Huygens Mission to Saturn to her right. Jo Haigh has been drawn against the backdrop of the sun and atmosphere to represent climate change, while Professor Jenny Nelson is surrounded by sunlight, to represent solar cells.

Professor Michele Dougherty

Professor Michele Dougherty, Head of the Department of Physics, was the Principal Investigator for the key magnetic field instrument aboard the international NASA-ESA Cassini-Huygens spacecraft orbiting Saturn.

Last month, she was awarded a Gold medal from the Institute of Physics for ‘her scientific leadership of the Cassini magnetic field instrument at Saturn and the European Space Agency (ESA) JUICE study team, leading to mission selection to explore the environs of Jupiter.’  She has also won a CBE for services to UK Physical Sciences.

Professor Jo Haigh

Professor Jo Haigh, Co-Director of the Grantham Institute for Climate Change and Environment , joined Imperial in 1984 and has published widely in the area of radiative transfer in the atmosphere, climate modelling, radiative forcing of climate change and the influence of solar irradiance variability on climate.

She is a Fellow of the Institute of Physics and has been a President of the Royal Meteorological Society. In 2004, Professor Haigh received the Institute of Physics Charles Chree Medal and Prize for her work on solar influences on climate.

In 2011, she also won the Royal Meteorological Society Adrian Gill Prize for significant contributions to the interface between atmospheric science and solar physics.

Professor Jenny Nelson

Professor Jenny Nelson has been a member of the Department of Physics since 1989, investigating energy and energy conversion materials, particularly solar energy and photovoltaic technologies to mitigate the production of sources of climate change such as carbon dioxide.

Professor Nelson works with many institutions including the Grantham Institute for Climate Change and the Welsh Government initiative to enhance solar research capability in Wales. Jenny’s student teaching in Physics conveys the fundamentals of modern/future energy systems in terms of their technical properties and economic and environmental impacts.