Marjorie Williamson

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Dame Marjorie Williamson, DBE (b. 1913, Wakefield, Yorkshire, England - d. Lower Raydon, Suffolk, England, 12 August 2002) was a British academic, educator, physicist and university administrator.

Elsie Margaret Williamson attended Wakefield High School for Girls and went up to study Physics at Royal Holloway College (RHC) in 1932, graduating in 1936. She stayed at Royal Holloway as a Demonstrator in physics, before spending the Second World War years lecturing at the University College of Wales in Aberystwyth.

She oversaw important changes at the Royal Holloway College from 1962 - 1973. Before Williamson became Principal, the college admitted only women as undergraduates and offered a relatively restricted number of courses. When she retired in 1973, the college had admitted men since 1965 and expanded into new buildings, and staff had been recruited for new departments such as biochemistry, statistics, computer science and music. [1].

As Principal of St Mary's College, Durham, she maintained an interest in Royal Holloway, being elected to the college council in 1958, and she was invited to become Principal in 1962. Being a college for women in Englefield Green, Surrey. The RHC was seen as something of a backwater. Williamson set out to change this image by admitting men and by a comprehensive expansion into new buildings and academic disciplines. She provided a new Students' Union building and revived the religious life of the college by the appointment of four honorary chaplains. She was appointed DBE on her retirement in 1973.

She died in Lower Raydon, Suffolk, England on 12 August 2002.

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  1. ^ The London Independent obituary, August 31, 2002, by Janet Knight)