Ann Mihkelson, PhD 1974

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Ann Mihkelson received her PhD in the School of Chemistry in 1974. Read about Ann’s remarkable life in “Three Suitcases and a Three-year-old”. ISBN 0 86417 997 9 (1999).

Below are some exerts from Ann’s book “Three Suitcases and a Three-year-old”.

“I wondered if women scientists existed. The only one I was aware of was Marie Curie. What happened to the other women who studied science? Careerwise, science led to teaching, pharmacy or industry. I faced a dilemma: I loved languages, poetry and chemistry, but these were divergent paths and I had to make a choice.”

“I fell in love with the warmth of the sandstone campus of the University of Sydney. The majestic quadrangle brought students to sit on the sunny section of the colonnade wall. In September, the jacaranda that adorned one corner of the quad dropped a carpet of blue bells on the green law. It seems it had grown from a stray seed that was allowed to survive. The sandstone buildings were built with a vision of the old in a new country. The Great Hall and carillon and clocktower welcomed the visitor and comfortingly sent the new graduate onward and forward. Or so it seemed. On the walls of the old geology building were names of former students who had given their life for the old country in war. Below, near Victoria Park and the main gate, was the new Fisher Library. At sunset its copper cladding glistened golden in the low evening sunlight. From within, it was lit up with a golden brilliance; the books seemed to glow and spread their wisdom over the city; the whole building was a vision of knowledge.”