Dorothy Hill

Dorothy Hill (born September 10, 1907, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia—died April 23, 1997, Brisbane) Australian geologist known for her seminal work on corals dating to the Paleozoic Era (roughly 539 million to about 252 million years ago) and championing the efforts of women in academia in 20th-century Australia. Hill became the first woman employed as a professor in Australia when she served in the geology department at the University of Queensland and became the first woman to serve as president of the Australian Academy of Science.

Early life and education

Hill was raised in the suburbs of Brisbane by her father, Robert Sampson Hill, an English-born retail worker, and her mother, Sarah Jane Hill, a Queenslander. From a young age, Hill cultivated her appreciation of learning at the Brisbane Girls’ Grammar School, where she won several prizes for her achievements in both academics and sports. She enrolled at the University of Queensland in 1925 after earning an entrance scholarship. Although she intended to study chemistry initially, a geology elective she took in her first year influenced her to pursue that field instead. She also continued to demonstrate her affinity for sports and competed successfully on the university’s hockey team. In 1928 Hill graduated with a first-class honours bachelor’s degree in geology and mineralogy. Her undergraduate work won a Gold Medal for Outstanding Merit, and she became the first woman at the University of Queensland to receive the award.

In 1930 Hill received a Foundation Traveling Scholarship that enabled her to study geology at the University of Cambridge in England, and she leveraged the resources of the university’s libraries and Sedgwick Museum of Earth Sciences for her research on corals from the Carboniferous Period (about 359 million to 299 million years ago) in Scotland. She completed her doctorate in 1932 but remained at the University of Cambridge to continue examining the skeletal structure of Paleozoic coral with a special emphasis on coral skeletons developed from their soft tissues.

Career

With financial support from the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, Hill began working as a senior research fellow at the University of Queensland in 1937. Her publications examined the physiology and structure of rugose corals, and she mapped the fossil successions of several coral faunas in layers of rock throughout Australia, which contributed greatly to overall coral taxonomy worldwide and to the understanding of Australia’s stratigraphy. During this period, Hill taught historical geology at the University of Queensland and encouraged student researchers through the school’s Science Students’ Association.

Starting in 1943, Hill largely set aside her scientific research to contribute to Australia’s war effort during World War II. She began her service volunteering with the Brisbane Mine-Watching Organisation, for which she monitored waterways for mines dropped by Japanese aircraft, before leading a group of civilian women in cypher-related work at U.S. Gen. Douglas MacArthur’s headquarters, where naval officers inspired her to join the Women’s Royal Australian Naval Service. There, she progressed from a third officer to an operations staff officer. Hill also joined the Inter-Service Demobilisation Planning Staff in 1944 and achieved the rank of second officer in 1945.

Hill returned to her paleontological research at the University of Queensland in 1946. Throughout her career, she published multiple papers and treatise volumes about Paleozoic corals, including The Geology of Queensland (1960; coedited with chief government geologist Alan Denmead), and several contributions between 1956 and 1981 to the Treatise on Invertebrate Paleontology. She also used her expertise in stratigraphy to consult on matters of petroleum and mineral exploration for both industry and government. Hill advanced rapidly through the university’s academic ranks between 1946 and 1960 and devoted significant attention to the education and supervision of undergraduate students, frequently checking in on their progress. She encouraged her female, as well as male, students to seek the highest levels in their fields. Hill became a full professor in 1960, and she was appointed president of the Australian Academy of Science in 1970; in both cases, she was the first woman in Australia to do so. She retired in 1972, but she continued to conduct research for more than a decade as a professor emeritus.

Legacy

Hill received numerous awards for her work in improving the state of science in Australia and for her efforts to bring about greater opportunity to Australian women in science. She was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 1971, she held the distinction of becoming Queenslander of the Year in 1972, and she received the Companion of the Order (AC) award, the most prestigious honour conferred by the Order of Australia, in 1993. The Australian Academy of Science in 2002 instituted a monetary prize called the Dorothy Hill Medal to support resident women postdoctoral researchers studying Earth science in Australia.