Nobel Prize Recipient. Dorothy Hodgkin received world-wide recognition after being awarded the 1964 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, according to the Nobel Prize Committee, "for her determination by x-ray techniques of the structures of biologically important molecules." Starting in 1956, she had received 32 nominations for the coveted award. In 1976, she became the first and, as of 2020, the only female recipient of the British Royal Academy’s Copley Medal, which has been awarded annually since 1731 for scientific achievement. Born in Egypt and lived in the Sudan as a child, her parents were involved with educational programs in several countries. She graduated from Oxford University with a First Class Honours degree in Chemistry and moved to Cambridge as a research scientist where in 1933 she became the first scientist to make an X-ray diffraction photograph of a protein. Returning to Oxford to begin a fellowship at Somerville College Oxford, she continued her research and development of X-ray crystallography, subsequently discovering the structure of penicillin in 1949, Vitamin B12 in 1964, and insulin in 1969. Politically, as a staunch socialist and member of several peace campaigning organizations, she was barred from the United States during the McCarthy Era in spite of representations on her behalf by the American crystallographic community. Her retirement from the university in 1977 did not stop her work or her interest in world affairs and scientific progress. Her desire for disarmament, and in particular a rapprochement with the Soviet Union, led to her approaching directly British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, a former student of hers. Her friendships and encouragement to scientists in the Soviet Union led to her being awarded the Mikhail Lomonosov Gold Medal in 1982 and the International Lenin Peace Prize in 1987. A Royal Society Fellowship was established in her name, and she received the Order of Merit. In 1996 she was one of five 'Women of Achievement' selected for a set of British stamps.

Nobel Prize Recipient. Dorothy Hodgkin received world-wide recognition after being awarded the 1964 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, according to the Nobel Prize Committee, "for her determination by x-ray techniques of the structures of biologically important molecules." Starting in 1956, she had received 32 nominations for the coveted award. In 1976, she became the first and, as of 2020, the only female recipient of the British Royal Academy’s Copley Medal, which has been awarded annually since 1731 for scientific achievement. Born in Egypt and lived in the Sudan as a child, her parents were involved with educational programs in several countries. She graduated from Oxford University with a First Class Honours degree in Chemistry and moved to Cambridge as a research scientist where in 1933 she became the first scientist to make an X-ray diffraction photograph of a protein. Returning to Oxford to begin a fellowship at Somerville College Oxford, she continued her research and development of X-ray crystallography, subsequently discovering the structure of penicillin in 1949, Vitamin B12 in 1964, and insulin in 1969. Politically, as a staunch socialist and member of several peace campaigning organizations, she was barred from the United States during the McCarthy Era in spite of representations on her behalf by the American crystallographic community. Her retirement from the university in 1977 did not stop her work or her interest in world affairs and scientific progress. Her desire for disarmament, and in particular a rapprochement with the Soviet Union, led to her approaching directly British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, a former student of hers. Her friendships and encouragement to scientists in the Soviet Union led to her being awarded the Mikhail Lomonosov Gold Medal in 1982 and the International Lenin Peace Prize in 1987. A Royal Society Fellowship was established in her name, and she received the Order of Merit. In 1996 she was one of five 'Women of Achievement' selected for a set of British stamps.

Bio by: mynwent