Female firsts at Manchester

At the University, we've always been pioneering. Discover our women who changed the world.

• 

  Bev Craig – first LGBTQ+ female leader of Manchester City Council

  Bev Craig became Manchester City Council’s first female and openly LGBTQ+ leader in 2021. She graduated from the University in 2007 with a politics and modern history degree and has held roles in local government, higher education and the trade union UNISON.

  Read more

• 

  Dawn Edge – The University of Manchester's first Black woman professor

  Dawn Edge became the University's first Black woman professor in 2019. As Professor of Mental Health and Inclusivity, she researches racial inequalities in mental health and serves as the University's Academic Lead for Equality, Diversity and Inclusion.

  Read more

• 

  Beatrice 'Tilly' Shilling – one of the first females to enrol on the University’s Electrical Engineering course

  After completing her MSc in Electrical Engineering at Manchester, Tilly's invention, the RAE restrictor, eliminated engine cut-out in RAF fighter planes, meaning they could keep up with the Luftwaffe. It was a crucial moment in the war effort and earned her an OBE. 

  Read more

• 

  Catherine Chisholm – our first female graduate of medicine

  Catherine Chisholm was the first female graduate of medicine from the University. As a paediatrician, she gathered activists and civic leaders to raise support for the Duchess of York hospital. She was awarded a CBE in 1935 for her work in paediatrics. 

  Watch video

• 

  Christabel Pankhurst – one of the first suffragettes

  Dame Christabel Pankhurst was a suffragette and graduate in Law from the University. A driving force behind the suffragette movement, alongside her mother and sister, she campaigned for women's rights, encouraging women to break down the barriers to gender equality. 

  Watch video

• 

  Ellen Wilkinson – first female Minister of Education

  Originally from a working-class family in Chorlton-on-Medlock, Ellen won a scholarship to study history at The University of Manchester and went on to become a founding member of the British Communist Party for which she was nicknamed ‘Red Ellen’.

  Read more

• 

  Frances O’Grady – first female General Secretary of the TUC

  Manchester alumna, Frances O’Grady, is the first female General Secretary of the Trade Unions Congress after joining in 1994 as Campaigns Officer. Frances lead the reorganisation of local skills projects into 'unionlearn' which now helps a quarter of a million workers into learning every year.

  Read her blog

• 

  Jean McFarlane – first Professor of Nursing

  Jean McFarlane was not only appointed as the first Professor of Nursing in England by the University, she also established the country's first nursing degree. Professor McFarlane founded Manchester's history of trailblazing work in educating health care professionals. 
  

  Explore more

• 

  Professor Dame Sally Davies – first female Chief Medical Officer for England

  Professor Dame Davies was appointed as the UK's first female Chief Medical Officer in 2010. Acting as the government’s principal medical adviser and the professional head of all directors of public health in local government, she has led global action to fight the trend of infections becoming resistant to antibiotics.

  Watch video