Professor Patricia Ann Whitelock (born 22 February 1951) is a British-born astrophysicist with dual British-South African nationality.
[citation needed] She helped to establish the National Astrophysics and Space Science Program where she served as the first chair of its steering committee between 2002 and 2013.
[citation needed] An important part of her activity has been raising the profile of astronomy amongst the wider African education community.
[citation needed] In 2018, she was awarded the De Beers Gold Medal by the SAIP, for "her outstanding research career in astronomy and astrophysics, and for her distinguished and extensive contributions to leadership, education and human capacity development of the Physics and Astronomy community"[6] Patricia Whitelock was born in Tynemouth, UK, to Marie (née Galloway) and Philip Whitelock.
She attended Sherrardswood School where her aptitude for the quantitative sciences was spotted and nurtured by her physics teacher, Tony Rook.