Joan Curran | |
|---|---|
 Joan Curran at Newnham College | |
| Born | Joan Elizabeth Strothers 26 February 1916 Swansea, Wales |
| Died | 10 February 1999 (aged 82) Glasgow, Scotland |
| Alma mater | Newnham College of University of Cambridge (B.A., M.A.) |
| Known for | Invention of chaff Work on proximity fuzes |
| Spouse | Sir Samuel Curran (m. 1940) |
| Awards | Honorary degree of Doctor of Laws by the University of Strathclyde |
| Scientific career | |
| Institutions | Cavendish Laboratory Telecommunications Research Establishment Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory |
Joan, Lady Curran (26 February 1916 – 10 February 1999), born Joan Elizabeth Strothers, was a Welsh physicist who played important roles in the development of radar and the atomic bomb during the Second World War. She devised a method of releasing chaff, a radar countermeasure technique credited with reducing losses among Allied bomber crews. She also worked on the development of the proximity fuse and the electromagnetic isotope separation process for the atomic bomb.
In 1954 she became a founding member of the Scottish Society for the Parents of Mentally Handicapped Children.