Barbara Possingham (née Hall)

Barbara Isabelle Herbert Possingham (née Hall) was born in 1931 and as a child lived in the Adelaide suburb of Glenelg.[1]   In 1942 she commenced at Adelaide High School where, encouraged by her mother, she pursued maths and science subjects, sometimes as the only girl in the ‘boys’ classes’.[2]   She passed her Leaving (Year 11) exams in 1945 and was awarded Leaving Honours (Year 12) in maths, physics, chemistry and botany in 1947.[3]

Possingham received a Leaving Honours Bursary (a South Australian government scholarship) and enrolled in the University of Adelaide’s Medical School in 1948.[4]  In 1949 she transferred to the University’s science degree which, with credits, she completed in two rather than the standard three years.  As an undergraduate, she was also involved in inter-university debating and other public speaking activities.[5]

In 1951 she began an honours degree in physics from which she graduated first class the following year.  A newspaper article published on her graduation, headlined ‘S.A. Woman Brilliant Scientist’, reported that physics professor Leonard Huxley considered Possingham perhaps the best student he had taught at the University: ‘She was easily top in honours physics and her great ability in both mathematics and physics points to a remarkable career.’[6]  In addition to her honours work, she was employed during 1951 and 1952 as a physics demonstrator, a position that had her instructing ex-servicemen often considerably older than her.[7]

Huxley encouraged Possingham to continue her studies and became her supervisor on commencement of a PhD in 1953.[8]  She was appointed a senior research scholar in the Department of Physics and was also awarded a CSIRO studentship from 1954.[9]  Her thesis, titled ‘Motions of slow electrons in diatomic gasses’, was accepted and her doctorate conferred in April 1956.[10]  The year’s commemoration ceremony was a notable one, with fellow higher-degree researcher Barbara Kidman also being awarded a PhD in physics – a duel first for women at Adelaide.

Possingham received an 1851 Research Fellowship in 1956 that saw her appointed to a research position at University College, London.[11]  In 1959 she married Max Possingham, a fellow University of Adelaide graduate who was also working in England with the Royal Radar Establishment.  A year later, they returned to settle in Adelaide where Max was employed with the Australian Government’s Weapons Research Establishment.[12]  They had two sons, Hugh and Graham, both also Adelaide science alumni.[13]

During the 1960s Barbara Possingham lectured at the South Australian Institute of Technology and at the University of Adelaide in mathematics and physics.  In the 1970s she was appointed deputy head of Girton Girls School/Pembroke, followed by a stint teaching in India.  Interviewed in 2011 she said, ‘I’ve taught everywhere.  I’ve taught from Catholic schools to Lameroo School when they didn’t have either a maths or physics person…’.[14] She also worked as a chief examiner with the South Australian Tertiary Admissions Centre (SATAC).[15]

In retirement, an enduring interest in environmental conservation was reflected in Possingham’s involvement with the Friends of the Waite Arboretum and the establishment of the Possingham Postgraduate Supplementary Scholarship in environmental sustainability at the University of Adelaide.[16]  On the 50th anniversary of their graduations, she and Barabara Kidman were awarded golden anniversary PhD plaques by the University.[17]

Barbara Possingham died on the 5th May 2023, aged 92.

1. Registrar’s Department, Index cards to students – 1900-1985. The University of Adelaide Archives, Series 1117, ‘Hall, Barbara Isabelle Herbert’.

2. Guineay, and Gibson, C 2008, 'Barbara Kidman and Barbara Possingham: Blazing a trail for women', Impact, November 2008, viewed 1 May 2024.  <https://www.alumni.adelaide.edu.au/s/923/images/editor_documents/Support%20U%20of%20A/Impact%20Nov2008%20Final.pdf?cc=1&sessionid=be8f9190-e563-4d5a-9dae-df9e63bf1d6c>

3. Registrar’s Department, index cards to students – 1900-1985. The University of Adelaide Archives, Series 1117, ‘Hall, Barbara Isabelle Herbert’.

4. Registrar’s Department, correspondence regarding award of honours bursaries for 1948. The University of Adelaide Archives, Series 200 docket 1948/109.

5. The Advertiser 1951, ‘Social Events of the Week’, The Advertiser, 25 August 1951, p 11, viewed 1 May 2024, <https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/45711500?searchTerm=barbara%20hall>.

6. The Advertiser 1952, ‘S.A. Woman Brilliant Scientist’, The Advertiser, 17 December 1952, p 1, viewed 1 May 2024, <https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/47512835?searchTerm=barbara%20hall>

7. Guineay, L and Gibson, C 2008 ‘Barbara Kidman and Barbara Possingham: Blazing a trail for women’, Impact, November 2008, viewed 1 May 2024.

8. Registrar’s Department, correspondence regarding Barbara I H Hall candidature for PhD degree.  The University of Adelaide Archives, Series 200 docket 1953/669.

9. Registrar’s Department, correspondence regarding Barbara I H Hall, appointment as Senior Research Scholar in the Department of Physics for 1954. The University of Adelaide Archives, Series 200 docket 1954/310G.

10. Registrar’s Department, correspondence regarding Barbara I H Hall candidature for PhD degree.  The University of Adelaide Archives, Series 200 docket 1953/669.

11. Possingham, B 2011 ‘School of Physics oral history project: Barbara Possingham’. Interviewed by Alastair Blake, 12 December, viewed 1 May 2024, <https://set.adelaide.edu.au/physics-chemistry-earth-sciences/ua/media/129/barbara-possingham.pdf>

12. Possingham, B 2011 ‘School of Physics oral history project: Barbara Possingham’. Interviewed by Alastair Blake, 12 December, viewed 1 May 2024, <https://set.adelaide.edu.au/physics-chemistry-earth-sciences/ua/media/129/barbara-possingham.pdf>

13. Dwyer, E 2021 Possingham Family Legacy, University of Adelaide, viewed 1 May 2024, <https://www.adelaide.edu.au/give/news/list/2021/09/01/possingham-family-legacy>

14. Possingham, B 2011 ‘School of Physics oral history project: Barbara Possingham’. Interviewed by Alastair Blake, 12 December, viewed 1 May 2024, <https://set.adelaide.edu.au/physics-chemistry-earth-sciences/ua/media/129/barbara-possingham.pdf>

15. Possingham, B 2011 ‘School of Physics oral history project: Barbara Possingham’. Interviewed by Alastair Blake, 12 December, viewed 1 May 2024, <https://set.adelaide.edu.au/physics-chemistry-earth-sciences/ua/media/129/barbara-possingham.pdf>

16. Dwyer, E 2021 Possingham Family Legacy, University of Adelaide, viewed 1 May 2024, <https://www.adelaide.edu.au/give/news/list/2021/09/01/possingham-family-legacy>

17. Guineay, L and Gibson, C 2008. ‘Barbara Kidman and Barbara Possingham: Blazing a trail for women’, Impact, November 2008, viewed 1 May 2024. <https://www.alumni.adelaide.edu.au/s/923/images/editor_documents/Support%20U%20of%20A/Impact%20Nov2008%20Final.pdf?cc=1&sessionid=be8f9190-e563-4d5a-9dae-df9e63bf1d6c>.