Margaret di Menna

New Zealand microbiologist
The basics

Quick Facts

IntroNew Zealand microbiologist
PlacesNew Zealand
wasScientist Biologist Microbiologist
Work fieldBiology Science
Gender
Female
Birth8 July 1923, Huddersfield, Kirklees, West Yorkshire, United Kingdom
Death24 March 2014Hamilton, Waikato Region, New Zealand (aged 90 years)
Star signCancer
Education
University of Otago
Awards
Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit 
The details

Biography

Margaret Elaine di Menna ONZM (8 July 1923 – 24 March 2014) was a New Zealand microbiologist. In 1954 she became the first woman to gain a Doctor of Philosophy degree from a New Zealand university. Her doctoral thesis at the University of Otago was entitled Yeasts of the human body, their nature and relationship. She had previously graduated with a MSc(Hons) from the same institution in 1948.

In 1990, di Menna was awarded the New Zealand 1990 Commemoration Medal, and in the 1997 New Year Honours, she was appointed an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to microbiology. In 2011, the reading room at Abbey College at the University of Otago was named in her honour. She was a prominent member of Zonta International.

She died in Hamilton in 2014.

The contents of this page are sourced from Wikipedia article on 28 Jul 2020. The contents are available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license.