Astrophysics award honours student research with nod to pioneer
Allie Vibert Douglas made history when she earned her PhD at McGill.
It was 1926 – a time when higher education wasn’t an option for most women.
By then, Douglas already had a Bachelor of Arts and a Master of Science from McGill – and had been named a member of the Order of the British Empire for her wartime service. With her PhD, she became the first Canadian woman to obtain a doctorate in astrophysics.
Douglas received accolades during her lifetime and posthumously, including an honorary degree from McGill in 1960. The National Council of Jewish Women of Canada declared Douglas one of 11 Canadian ‘Women of the Century”. An asteroid and a crater on Venus bear her name. Yet you could easily make the case that Douglas should be better known.
Physics Professor Victoria Kaspi, the Director of the Trottier Space Institute, hopes to shine a light on the trailblazing astrophysicist. Kaspi has generously established a new student award for the top PhD thesis in astrophysics at McGill and named it after Douglas, who died in 1988.