Bristol University honours its pioneering women in new portraits

Despite the University of Bristol being the first higher education institution in England to welcome women on an equal basis to men, the wooden panels of the great hall in the Wills Memorial Building have long been an all-male domain thanks to hosting portraits of its vice-chancellors.

But now portraits dedicated to inspirational women – from the first British woman to win a Nobel Prize to one of the country’s early suffragettes – grace the walls of the university’s most famous building.

The series of ten portraits aiming to redresses the balance and celebrating notable Bristol women were unveiled at an panel discussion which looked to the future of gender equality by asking what key challenges still need to be overcome and how.

Women currently at the University of Bristol hold portraits of ten of the women chosen to launch a project celebrating a centenary of suffrage

The portraits, taken by photographer Jessica Augarde, will be the first of many initiatives to honour women at the university, with new permanent artworks to be commissioned every year until 2028: the 100-year anniversary of full suffrage in Britain.

Among the women featured are activists, educators and research pioneers:

• Baroness Hale of Richmond, the first female president of the Supreme Court and former chancellor of the University of Bristol
• Professor Jean Golding, leading epidemiologist and founder of the Children of the 90s study
• Dr Gaositwe Chiepe, Botswana’s first female cabinet member and University of Bristol alumnus
• Professor Dorothy Hodgkin, the first British woman to win a Nobel Prize and former chancellor of the university
• Winifred Shapland, first female registrar of the University of Bristol and the first female registrar of any British university
• Dr Elizabeth Casson, the first woman to receive a medical degree from the university and a pioneer for occupational therapy
• Professor Helen Wodehouse, the first female chair at the university of Bristol
• Norah Fry, champion for people with learning disabilities, whose donation led to the creation of the Norah Fry Research Centre
• Enid Stacey, socialist and campaigner for women’s rights and alumnus of University College, Bristol (the precursor to the University of Bristol)
• Mary Paley Marshall, the first woman lecturer at University College, Bristol

Photographed holding images of these women are staff and students at today’s university, including Dr Peggy Styles, who became the university’s oldest graduate when she collected her postdoctorate in 2016, aged 86; and Lara Lalemi, a chemistry PhD student who has been an advocate for encouraging people from diverse backgrounds to study STEM subjects.

Lara Lalemi holding a photo of Dorothy Hodgkin

Judith Squires holding a photo of Winifred Shapland

Professor Judith Squires, incoming deputy-vice chancellor and the most senior woman at the university, is pictured holding a photograph of Winifred Shapland.

Professor Squires said: “Although the achievements of women such as Lady Hale, Jean Golding and Dorothy Hodgkin have been rightly honoured at the university in the past, we also wanted to uncover the stories of unsung heroines, whose achievements aren’t as well-known and documented as they should be.

“Featuring them alongside ten women in today’s university community gave us the opportunity to show how their legacy is continuing to inspire our teaching and work today, showcasing our current pioneers and prompting a conversation about how we can work together as we strive further towards equality.”

Main photo: Undergraduate medical student Asha Mohammed holding a photograph of Dr Elizabeth Casson (1881-1954), the first woman to receive a medical degree from the University of Bristol