Rachael Padman

Rachael Padman
Born1954 (age 69–70)
Melbourne, Australia
NationalityAustralian
Alma materMonash University
St John's College, Cambridge
Scientific career
FieldsAstrophysics and radio astronomy
InstitutionsCSIRO
University of California, Berkeley
Newnham College, Cambridge
Doctoral advisorRichard Hills

Rachael Padman (born 1954) is an Australian physics lecturer at the University of Cambridge in England. From Melbourne, Padman was a graduate in electrical engineering from Monash University, Australia, and specialised in radio astronomy. After her doctoral research, she has made contributions to research in stellar evolution (the formation of stars). She is now mainly involved in administrative works in teaching. Padman is a member of the International Astronomical Union.[1]

A trans woman (born Russell Padman), Padman underwent sex reassignment surgery in 1982 when she was undertaking a PhD in astronomy at the University of Cambridge.[2] In 1996, she was elected a Fellow of Newnham College, one of three all-women colleges in the University of Cambridge at the time.[3][4] She received opposition from some people, who argued, unsuccessfully, that Padman should not be made a Fellow as she was assigned male at birth.[2][5]

  1. ^ "Rachael Padman". International Astronomical Union. 18 May 2011. Retrieved 6 March 2014.
  2. ^ a b "A gender for success". The Guardian. Guardian News and Media Limited. 14 August 2004. Retrieved 6 March 2014.
  3. ^ Garner, Clare (25 June 1997). "Fellows divided over don who breached last bastion". The Independent. Retrieved 7 March 2014.
  4. ^ Featherstone, Mike, ed. (2000). Body Modification (1st publ. ed.). London: Sage. pp. 219–220. ISBN 9780761967958.
  5. ^ Reynolds, Flo (19 February 2013). "Arts history: Germaine Greer". Concrete. Retrieved 7 March 2014.