Charmian O'Connor

Dame Charmian Jocelyn O'Connor (née Bishop, born 4 August 1937) is a New Zealand physical organic chemist. She became the first female professor of chemistry at the University of Auckland in 1986, and retired in 2004.

Early life and education Born in Woodville on 4 August 1937, the daughter of Cecil and Kathrene Bishop, O'Connor was educated at Hastings High School and Auckland Girls' Grammar School. She went on to study chemistry at Auckland University College, graduating Bachelor of Science in 1957, Master of Science with first-class honours in 1958, and completing a PhD in physical organic chemistry in 1963 at what by that time had become the University of Auckland.

Academic and research career O'Connor was appointed as a lecturer in chemistry at Auckland University College in 1958, rising to the rank of professor in 1986, becoming Auckland's first female professor of chemistry.

O'Connor has also held visiting positions at several other universities. In 1963, she took leave from Auckland to be a postdoctoral researcher at University College London, having been awarded a fellowship by New Zealand Federation of University Women, which also paid for her research trip to University of California, Santa Barbara in the same year. She returned to London in 1972, this time for a post at Imperial College, where she worked with future Nobel laureate Geoffrey Wilkinson, supported by a grant from the Canadian Federation of University Women. The same year, she received a Fulbright grant for a visiting position at Texas A&M University. O'Connor also held visiting professorships at Universities of Nagasaki and Tokushima in Japan. Her research focused on the mechanisms and kinetics of reactions involving biologically active compounds. In 1973, she was conferred the degree of Doctor of Science (DSc) by the University of Auckland on the basis of published papers submitted, becoming the first woman in New Zealand to be awarded a DSc.

During her career at Auckland, O'Connor held many administrative roles at the university, including serving as the inaugural assistant vice-chancellor, equal employment opportunities and staff development, from 1987 to 1998, and deputy vice-chancellor in 1994. She served as the foundation's chair of trustee board for nine years from its establishment

O'Connor served on the councils of a number of educational institutions, including the Manukau Institute of Technology, Unitec Institute of Technology, and the Diocesan School for Girls. She became a Dame Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to chemistry and education, in the 2018 Queen's Birthday Honours.

O'Connor was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of New Zealand in 1986,