Subiaco Stories...Noel White (Oxford Scholarship) (1954).
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West Australian, 22 December 1954.
A Young Physicist Wins Studentship For Oxford
A young physicist who was told that she was the first woman to gain first-class honours in physics at the University of Western Australia, was among the five students granted a Hackett studentship by the Senate on Monday.
She is Miss Noel White, the daughter of Mrs. I. C. White, of Subiaco, and for the last two years she has been doing research work with Professor C. J. B. Clews in X-ray crystallography.
Miss White will leave towards the end of next year to study for two years at Oxford University. Before she leaves she hopes to complete a doctor's degree. Her branch of science was introduced to the university by Professor Clews only two years ago, she said, and be hoped to develop it here. Last year she received a grant from the Medical Research Council to undertake her research into the molecular structure of organic chemicals.
The purpose behind the research, she said, was to understand more of the function and composition of substances which, for example, appear naturally in the human body. Many of the chemicals were used in medicine and once the structure was known much of the practical use was left to the chemists..
Miss Noel White.
Recently in America, said Miss White, considerable experiment had been made into the composition of penicillin, and now that its structure was known its uses could be extended. Haemoglobin, the component of blood which caused clotting, had also been given study recently, so far without success.
The woman doctor at Oxford, said Miss White, under whom she would work, was studying, among other elements, vitamin B. Miss Miss White, who has been at the university for six years, received a Government exhibition from Perth Modern School to attend the university.
She received a degree of bachelor of science and in her honours year made a study of ultra-violet spectrosophy. For the past two years she has been a physics demonstrator. The only woman among the four students who received Hackett scholarships worth £200 was Miss Jocelyn Howieson, of Northam, the daughter of Mr. Jack Howieson, headmaster of the Northam High School. She is an honours graduate in English literature and the grant will enable her to study for her master's degree.
Miss Howieson is also a student at the Teachers' Training College. War Brides Seven women who first met each other on board ship nine years ago when they came to this State as war brides met for luncheon yesterday for their annual Christmas reunion. They were Mesdames W. Cryer and L. Solomon. formerly of Edinburgh, E. Mills and S. Dalton. of Glasgow, N. Arthur. of London, L. Mellor. of Doncaster. and F. Roberts, of Dundee. They were all married in Britain to West Australian members of the Royal Australian Air Force and now live in various parts of the metropolitan area.
