Rona Robinson (26 June 1884 – 7 April 1962) was the first woman in the United Kingdom to gain a first-class degree in chemistry[1] and one of the first documented female industrial chemists.

She was the youngest child of Jessie and Fred (Alfred) Robinson, both of her parents originating from the Manchester area, from Chorlton-on-Medlock and Cheetham Hill respectively.

[6] She graduated with a first class honours degree in chemistry, the LeBlanc medal and a Mercer scholarship (for the best final year student entering research) in 1905.

Robinson continued at Manchester, working for her research MSc during which she published a paper entitled 3-Hydroxyphthalic and 3-methoxyphthalic acids and their derivatives with William Henry Bentley and Charles (Chaim) Weitzmann.

Both left the school after a dispute over wages to concentrate their attention on Women's Social and Political Union activities, becoming paid regional representatives.

[15] In October 1909 Robinson, Marsden and Gawthorpe were arrested for dressing in full academic regalia and interrupting a speech by the chancellor of the Victoria University of Manchester at the celebration of the opening of the new chemical laboratories.

This was a deliberate tactic by the WSPU where women refused all food and water when they arrived at prison and then would eventually have to be discharged on medical grounds.

On the obverse of the top bar is the maker's name and address "TOYE 57 THEABOLD RD LONDON" it is believed that no more than 100 of the medals were awarded; there is no answer to how many have survived."

[17] Robinson had been outspoken on feminist matters during her years as a suffragette, giving a talk in the Freewoman Discussion Circle on the Abolition of Domestic Drudgery.

In 1920 she joined the Clayton Aniline Company as Chief Chemist, her work there generated three patents listing her as the inventor; two were for aldehyde-amino condensation products.