Professor Dame Jean Thomas FLSW FMedSci FRS was the inaugural Frances Hoggan medallist.

The medal, funded by Welsh Government, recognises outstanding contributions to research in any area of STEMM research, by a woman, resident in Wales, of Welsh birth or who otherwise can demonstrate a particular connection with Wales. Dame Jean  FLSW FMedSci FRS is Professor Emerita of Macromolecular Biochemistry, University of Cambridge, Master of St Catharine’s College Cambridge and President of the Royal Society of Biology, and a Fellow of the Learned Society, the Academy of Medical Sciences and the Royal Society.

Dame Jean commented

I am delighted and honoured to receive this first Frances Hoggan Medal.  Frances Hoggan was a remarkable pioneer – only the second woman to receive a Doctor of Medicine Degree from a European University in 1870, and an active social campaigner and reformer, with a particular interest in the education of girls in Wales. The creation of this medal will not only keep alive her memory but hopefully also inspire others, particularly girls in Wales, to enter STEMM subjects and grasp the opportunities these offer.