Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin was one of the most remarkable scientists of the 20th century and she made Oxford her intellectual home. Born May

12th, 1910, Hodgkin became a pioneer in the field of X-ray crystallography, a technique used to determine the three-dimensional structures of biomolecules. It was a field in its infancy when she began, but through her persistence and brilliance, it was transformed into a tool that revolutionised biochemistry and medicine.

Hodgkin’s academic journey brought her to Somerville College, Oxford, where she studied chemistry and later returned as a fellow. It was in Oxford’s laboratories that she carried out much of her groundbreaking work. Using X-ray crystallography, she solved the complex structures of important biological molecules, including penicillin and vitamin B12. These achievements required extraordinary patience and precision, long before the days of modern computing.

In 1964 Hodgkin was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for her work on the structures of important biochemical substances. She remains the only British woman to have received a Nobel Prize in any of the sciences — a testament to her exceptional contribution in a male-dominated field. Her Nobel citation recognised not only her work on penicillin and vitamin B12, but also her efforts on the structure of insulin, which she worked on for over 35 years. The successful mapping of insulin’s structure had a profound impact on diabetes treatment and remains one of the crowning achievements of her career.

Hodgkin was also a deeply committed teacher and mentor at Oxford, remembered for her humility, warmth, and support for young scientists — especially women pursuing science against the odds. In 1970, she became the first female president of the Royal Society of Chemistry.

Dorothy Hodgkin’s legacy lives on not just in the molecules she helped to reveal, but in the generations of scientists she inspired. Walk through Oxford today and you’ll find plaques and portraits that honour her — a quiet reminder of one woman’s extraordinary contribution to science, made right here in the city of dreaming spires.