Margaret di Menna

ONZM
Born
Margaret Elaine di Menna

(1923-07-08)8 July 1923
Huddersfield, Yorkshire, England
Died24 March 2014(2014-03-24) (aged 90)
Hamilton, New Zealand
Alma materUniversity of Otago
Scientific career
FieldsMicrobiology
ThesisYeasts of the human body, their nature and relationship (1954)

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.[1] She had previously graduated with a MSc(Hons) from the same institution in 1948.[2]

In 1990, di Menna was awarded the New Zealand 1990 Commemoration Medal,[3] and in the 1997 New Year Honours, she was appointed an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to microbiology.[4] In 2011, the reading room at Abbey College at the University of Otago was named in her honour.[5] She was a prominent member of Zonta International.[6]

She died in Hamilton in 2014.[7]

References

  1. ↑ Page, Dot (2012). "First of the few: an unsuitable degree for a woman?" (PDF). New Zealand Federation of University Women Canterbury Branch Newsletter (April): 5. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 February 2013. Retrieved 29 March 2014.
  2. ↑ "NZ university graduates 1870–1961". Retrieved 29 March 2014.
  3. ↑ Taylor, Alister; Coddington, Deborah (1994). Honoured by the Queen – New Zealand. Auckland: New Zealand Who's Who Aotearoa. p. 121. ISBN 0-908578-34-2.
  4. ↑ "New Year honours list 1997". Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. 31 December 1996. Retrieved 15 December 2019.
  5. ↑ "Awards and achievements". www.agresearch.co.nz. AgResearch. April 2011. Archived from the original on 29 March 2014. Retrieved 29 March 2014.
  6. ↑ "A Brief History of Prominent Zonta Member: Margaret Di Menna, Club of Hamilton-Waikato". Zonta International New Zealand. 2014. Retrieved 7 October 2018.
  7. ↑ "Dr Margaret di Menna obituary". The New Zealand Herald. 26 March 2014. Retrieved 29 March 2014.
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