Herriot-Watt - Curious Edinburgh

Christina Miller

Mar 022024

Christina Miller Building, 75 James Dewar Road, Edinburgh, EH9 3BG

A modern building constructed of brick at the bottom and grey and turquoise panelling higher up. There is a stone path leading to glass door. At the start of the path is a short blue sign reading “Christina Miller Building”.

Christina Miller (1899 – 2001) was a Scottish chemist and the first female chemist to be elected to the Royal Society of Edinburgh. Miller suffered from various childhood illnesses which caused severe damage to her hearing, and as a result many career pathways were closed to her. However, she decided to study chemistry at the University of Edinburgh and Heriot-Watt University. She graduated with a special distinction, the class medal and the Vans Dunlop Scholarship. Miller went on to pursue a PhD, and her work was published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society. Post-PhD, Miller obtained the first ever sample of pure phosphorus trioxide and became so successful in her field that she obtained a Doctor of Science (DSc) before the age of 30. She was one of the first women to become a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 1949. Her vast contributions to chemistry are honoured by the Christina Miller Building in the King’s Buildings at the University of Edinburgh.

Old black and white photo of a woman with short dark hair and dark eyes wearing a graduation gown and holding a diploma. — Christina Miller, graduation photo, 1920s

Old black and white photo of a dark-haired woman in a white lab coat working a chemistry lab full of glass equipment visible in the light from a large window. — Christina Miller in the chemistry lab, 1930s

Sources:

“Christina Miller.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 7 June 2023,https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christina_Miller
“Christina Miller.” Celebrating Diversity: Inspiring Women in History, The University of Edinburgh, https://www.ed.ac.uk/equality-diversity/celebrating-diversity/inspiring-women/women-in-history/christina-cruikshank-miller . Accessed 14 Sept. 2023.

Additional link:

Christina Miller, Historic Environment Scotland

New Curious Edinburgh tours

For International Women’s Day on March 8, we are launching a new tour featuring locations in Edinburgh connected to amazing women in STEM. Celebrate equality, diversity and inclusion in STEM by taking a look at Edinburgh-connected women who have made an impact in a wide range of STEM fields.

Check out our new bird trail! We are currently working on the development of coastal trails, in collaboration with Traveltech for Scotland and the Royal Society of Edinburgh’s Young Academy Scotland’s Coastal Knowledge map. Here you can upload your own experiences of the coast, including birds you have spotted.

Last year we added the Second World War tour developed by academics from the schools of Social and Political Science and History, Classics and Archeology.