[1] Daphne Frances Jackson was born in Peterborough; her father was a machine tool operator and her mother had been a textile designer before she married.

[3] She eventually rose to be the dean of the university as well as sitting on a range of bodies; she held a senior position at the Meteorological Office.

In 1985 Jackson devised a plan to help these women by allowing them to work for two years where they could readjust to their discipline after taking a break to have a child, becoming a carer or just because they followed their husband's career rather than their own.

[2] Jackson is reported as saying, "Imagine a society that would allow Marie Curie to stack shelves in a supermarket simply because she took a career break for family reasons.

"[6] Qualified women who are unemployed or under-employed following a career break for family commitments represent an appalling waste of talent and of investment in their initial education.