Patricia Clarke

Patricia Hannah Clarke FRS

Education and early life Clarke was born in Pontypridd, South Wales, and was educated at Howell's School, Llandaff, from 1930 to 1937, before studying the Natural Sciences Tripos at Girton College, Cambridge, from 1937 to 1940.

She moved to the Department of Biochemistry at University College London, as Assistant Lecturer, being appointed Lecturer in 1956, Reader in 1966 and Professor of Microbial Biochemistry in 1973 until her retirement in 1984 – when she was made emeritus professor. During this time she co-wrote Genetics and Biochemistry of Pseudomonas. Her aim in this paper was to present in one volume the fundamentals, basic methodology, and specific applications of gas-liquid chromatography in microbiology and medicine. In addition to this, some of her papers include are Hydrogen Sulphide Production by Bacteria, An Inducible Amidase Produced by a Strain of Pseudomonas Aeruginosa, Biochemical Classification of Proteus and Providence Cultures and Butyramide-using Mutants of Pseudomonas Aeruginosa 8602 Which Produce an Amidase with Altered Substrate Specificity. Her major field of research was bacterial enzymes production and metabolism.

In retirement, she held positions of responsibility with the Society for General Microbiology, the Biochemical Society, the Science Research Council, and the Freshwater Biological Association. and delivered their Leeuwenhoek Lecture in 1979. A. J. Klyver Lecturer, Dutch Society for Microbiology (1981)

Collections In 2002 Clarke donated her archive to University College London. The archive contains material relating to her own life and career (including publications, biographical items, and correspondence) and Clarke's advocacy for women in science.