Dorothy Helen Rayner

Dorothy Helen Rayner (3 February 1912 – 31 December 2003) was a British geologist who became an authority on the stratigraphy of the British Isles while working at University of Leeds. In 1975 she was awarded the prestigious Lyell Medal from the Geological Society of London for her contributions to the field.

Early life and education Rayner was born in Teddington, Middlesex, the second of three children of Agnes (née Styles) and Edwin Rayner, a senior figure at the National Physical Laboratory. The wider family were steeped in science - cousin Douglas Rayner Hartree was a theoretical physicist, her paternal grandfather Edwin Rayner was a medical doctor and her siblings also read science at Cambridge. Her paternal aunt was Eva Hartree, became the first female Mayor of Cambridge.

Rayner was educated at Bedales School, then read Natural Sciences at Girton College, Cambridge, graduating with a BA (1st Class) in 1935. She was a University Harkness Scholar and received of the G.G.B. Crewdson Memorial prize that year. From 1936 to 1938, she carried out research into vertebrate palaeontology, mainly at Cambridge, but also at University College, London, as a Hertha Ayrton By-Fellow at Girton. She received her doctorate from Cambridge in 1938. She was elected an Honorary Member in 1974 and was awarded the Sorby Medal in 1977. Rayner also received the Clough Medal from the Edinburgh Geological Society in 1973, and the Lyell Medal from the Geological Society of London in 1975. She was also a member of the Geologists' Association for 66 years, from 1936 until her death.

Selected publications

Second edition with major revisions year=1987