Physics president sets precedent

CSIRO scientist Dr Cathy Foley is the first woman to be elected president of the Australian Institute of Physics (AIP).

At the AIP's 59th annual general meeting held in Melbourne recently, Foley was elected unopposed for a two-year term.

"It is a privilege to be the first woman to lead the AIP, even though it is a pity it has taken so long for a woman to rise to the top," said Foley, who is responsible for nurturing scientific know-how at CSIRO's Division of Industrial Physics.

The AIP promotes the role of physics in research, education, industry and the community. Starting in 1939 as a branch of the UK-based Institute of Physics, the list of past office bearers reads like a who's who of Australian physics.

"I took on the president's role because it's a way of boosting the profile of physics - in CSIRO, the rest of Australia's innovation system, and in the community," Foley said.

"I plan to reinvigorate physics as a career in its own right, get the relevant government departments to develop a good strategy that will provide the best science teachers for the future, find out what impact physics has on the economy - given Australia's huge investment in large physics-based projects such as the synchrotron, ANSTO's new research reactor and quantum computing - and pull together the AIP's member societies so that we're more efficient and cost effective."