A Newnhamite who champions the cause of female scientists around the world has been named as the president of an organisation which supports and unites women.
Professor Jennifer Thomson (NC 1968) will lead The Organization for Women in Science for the Developing World (OWSD) from 2016 until 2020.
Professor Thomson, who read Natural Sciences at Newnham, was elected at the OWSD General Assembly and International Conference in Kuwait.
OWSD was founded in 1987 and is the first international forum to unite eminent women scientists from the developing and developed worlds with the objective of strengthening their role in the development process and promoting their representation in scientific and technological leadership.
OWSD provides research training, career development and networking opportunities for women scientists throughout the developing world at different stages in their careers.
Professor Thomson, pictured, is currently Chair of the OWSD South Africa national chapter, where she has supported its members through workshops on writing and presentation skills, mentoring OWSD fellowship holders in the country, highlighting successful and emerging women scientists in the country, and building regional collaborations among other activities.
She is also an Emeritus Professor in the Department of Molecular and Cell Biology at the University of Cape Town (UCT). Previously, she was Associate Professor at the University of the Witwatersrand and Director of the Laboratory for Molecular and Cell Biology for the South African Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, before becoming Head of the Department of Microbiology at UCT.
Thomson has won numerous prestigious awards and fellowships, including the L’Oreal/UNESCO prize for Women in Science for Africa in 2004 and an Honorary Doctorate from the Sorbonne University.
Her research field is the development of genetically modified maize resistant to the African endemic maize streak virus and tolerant to drought and she has published three books on Genetically Modified Organisms: Genes for Africa, Seeds for the Future, and Food for Africa.
She is a member of the board of the African Agricultural Technology Foundation (AATF), based in Nairobi and vice-chair of ISAAA (International Service for the Acquisition of AgriBiotech Applications).
She also serves on the National Advisory Council on Innovation of the South African Minister of Science and Technology.
As OWSD President, Prof. Thomson has identified as initial priorities raising the visibility and public standing of the organisation, expanding fundraising efforts, and seeking new strategic opportunities for OWSD to have a wider impact.