Jan Anderson

Joan Mary "Jan" Anderson FAA FRS (13 May 1932 – 28 August 2015) was a New Zealand scientist who worked in Canberra, Australia, distinguished by her investigation of photosynthesis.

Life Joan Mary Anderson was born in 1932 in Queenstown, New Zealand. Her father Dr Bill Anderson was a country doctor. Her mother died, after a long illness, when Anderson was eight. After high school, Anderson decided to study organic chemistry at the University of Otago. At the time, degrees were issued by the University of New Zealand, and she obtained a BSc and MSc with first class honours.

She then taught at Wellington Girls' High School under a bond, but broke this arrangement to take up a job offer with the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) made to her four years earlier by John Falk of CSIRO Plant Industry. Anderson was an adjunct professor at the Australian National University.

Awards and honors She received many honors and awards for her work, including the Lemberg Medal in 1983, election as a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science in 1987, and as a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1996. She was awarded an honorary doctorate from Umeå University in 1998. She was awarded the Centenary Medal in 2001.