University of Sheffield (United Kingdom)
Gillian A. Gehring is Professor of Solid State Physics at the University of Sheffield and is an active researcher in theoretical magnetism with particular interests in magnetic oxides. She is a member of the British Association Physics Committee and was the first ever woman President of the Physics Section in 2002.
Her connection to women and science includes being a member of the working party of the UK government investigation into the role of women in science and technology in 1995, resulting in the publication of The Rising Tide. In September 2001 she published an article for Physics World that demonstrates the additional financial benefits to women of taking a PhD.
In March 2002 she led the UK delegation to the IUPAP conference on Women in Physics that resulted in the publication of “Women Physicists Speak”, which put the recommendations from the IUPAP conference into a UK context (the text is given in full on the web).
Gillian A. Gehring is acting chair of the Gender Equality working group of the European Physical Society and Chair of the IoP Steering Committee for Site visits that started 2003. This is a new scheme where a panel visits a department by invitation to assess the environment in the Department for Women.