Biographical entry Bear, Isabel Joy (1927 - )
AM, FRACI
- Born
- 4 January 1927
Camperdown, Victoria, Australia - Occupation
- Mineral chemist
Summary
Isabel Bear discovered a number of previously unknown metastable zirconium sulfate hydrates while working at the CSIRO Division of Mineral Chemistry in the early 1960s. In 1967 Bear was promoted to the research staff of the division, notably she was the first and only woman to be appointed to research ranks of the Division of Mineral Chemistry. Bear was appointed Member of the Order of Australia, 26 January 1986, for services to science, particularly in the field of mineral chemistry. In 1988 she was the first woman to be awarded the Leighton Medal by the Royal Australian Chemical Institute. Bear co-authored Alumina to Zirconia: The History of the CSIRO Division of Mineral Chemistry. In 2005 Bear was part of a team compiling the history of the CSIRO Division of Chemical Engineering.
Details
Events
- 1944 - 1950
- Career position - Junior Laboratory Assistant in the minerals utilization section of the Division of Industrial Chemistry at CSIR (Council for Scientific and Industrial Research)/CSIRO (Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation)
- 1950 - 1951
- Career position - Experimental Scientist at the Atomic Energy Research Establishment in Harwell, UK
- 1951 - 1953
- Career position - Research Assistant at Birmingham University, UK
- 1953 - 1959
- Career position - Experimental Officer in the Minerals Utilization Section of the Division of Industrial Chemistry at the CSIRO (Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation)
- 1959 - 1967
- Career position - Experimental Officer at the Division of Mineral Chemistry at CSIRO
- 1967
- Career position - Senior Research Scientist at the Division of Mineral Chemistry at CSIRO
- 1972
- Career position - Principal Research Scientist in the Division of Mineral Chemistry at CSIRO
- 1979 - 1992
- Career position - Senior Principal Research Scientist in the Division of Mineral Chemistry at CSIRO
- 1986
- Award - Member of the Order of Australia (AM)
- 1988
- Award - Leighton Memorial Medal received from the Royal Australian Chemical Institute
- 1992
- Life event - Retired
- 1992 - 1997
- Career position - Honorary Fellow of the Division of Minerals, CSIRO
- 2001
- Career position - Alumina to Zirconia (with Tom Biegler and Tom Scott) published by CSIRO
- 2005
- Award - Inducted into the Victorian Honour Roll of Women
Related entries
Published resources
Encyclopedia of Australian Science Exhibitions
- McCarthy, Gavan; Morgan, Helen; Smith, Ailie; van den Bosch, Alan, Where are the Women in Australian Science?, Australian Science and Technology Heritage Centre, 2003, http://www.austehc.unimelb.edu.au/wisa/wisa.html. Details
Books
- Bear, I. J.; Beigler, T; Scott, T. R., Alumina to zirconia: the history of CSIRO Division of Mineral Chemistry, CSIRO Minerals, Clayton, Victoria, 2001, 426 pp. Details
Online Resources
- 'Bear, Isabel Joy (1927-)', Trove, National Library of Australia, 2009, http://nla.gov.au/nla.party-1475847. Details
- O'Neil, 'Isabel Joy Bear: a Biographical Note', WISENET Journal, vol. 60, July, 2002, http://www.wisenet-australia.org/issue60/isabel_bear.htm. Details
See also
- Herd, Margaret (ed.), Who's Who in Australia 2002, 38 edn, Crown Content, Melbourne, 2001, 2020 pp. Details
Ailie Smith
Created: 10 February 2003, Last modified: 1 August 2007