Margaret White, also known as Margaret White Fishenden, was a British meteorologist and industrial researcher.
Biography
Margaret Fishenden White was born near Manchester to Richard William White and Sarah Elizabeth White. She was educated by governesses until being awarded a scholarship to attend Manchester Municipal Secondary School at the age of thirteen. In 1905 she gained a first-class matriculation which enabled her to enter the University of Manchester. White obtained a Master of Science degree from the University of Manchester in 1910. She lectured at the Howard Estate Observatory, Glossop, from 1910 to 1911 and then at the University of Manchester from 1911 to 1916. White married Richard Bertie Fishenden in 1915 and gave birth to her son, Richard Martin in 1917. She was awarded a Doctorate of Science from the University of Manchester in 1919. In 1922 White moved to London where she worked alongside Dr C.H. Lander and O.A. Saunders under the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research. She worked alongside both Lander and Saunders for much of her career. In 1932 Margaret divorced from Richard Fishenden and she never remarried. In 1932 she also became an honorary lecturer in the department of engineering, mechanical and motive power at Imperial College London where she remained until she retired in 1957. White died in Goring, near Reading in 1977 at the age of eighty-eight.
Career
From 1916 to 1922 she was the head of Manchester Corporation's Air Pollution Advisory Board's research team. Her work during this time included the publication of The Coal Fire, the work for which she is best known. In 1923 White was elected a fellow of the Institute of Physics. In 1947 White became the only woman to reach the status of assistant professor and reader in applied heat at Imperial College. As well as a strong academic link, White maintained links with industry throughout her career and served on fifteen industrial committees, two of which she chaired.
