Two leading Cambridge academics have been acknowledged in the Sunday Telegraph's 100 Most Powerful Women in Britain list.

Athene Donald, Professor of Experimental Physics, and Mary Beard, Professor of Classics, were two of only nine women listed in the Academia section. Professor Lisa Jardine, an Honorary Fellow of King’s and Jesus colleges, was also profiled.

Professor Donald, the University’s gender and equality champion, and Director of the Women in Science, Engineering and Technology Initiative, was made a Dame in this year’s Queen’s Birthday Honours for services to Physics. She is also a Fellow of the Royal Society. Her current research lies at the interface of Physics and Biology, working on problems associated with protein aggregation and cellular biophysics.

Her entry in the list reads: “Her research into the way molecules and cells function has implications for sufferers of Alzheimer’s disease and the development of hip replacements and prosthetic limbs. Married with two children, she is dedicated to boosting the number of women in science.”

Professor Mary Beard is a Fellow of the British Academy and a Fellow of Newnham College. She is Classics Editor of the Times Literary Supplement, writes a popular blog in The Times and is a frequent broadcaster.

Of Professor Beard, the newspaper says: “The Cambridge professor is a distinguished author and chatty blogger (A Don’s Life), with a contagious enthusiasm for civilisations past and present.”

Meanwhile, the University of Cambridge is running its first People Matter Day on 1 December to coincide with International Day for Disabled Persons, Human Rights Day and World Aids Day.

Organised by the Equality and Diversity team and Human Resources, the drop-in session will focus on the importance of wellbeing in the workplace. More information can be found on the links section to the right of this story.

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