It was with great sadness that we learnt of the death of Dr Nancy Lane Perham OBE last month at the age of 89.  She was a pioneering cell biologist and a champion of women in science.

Nancy was a member of our department and fellow of Girton College from 1968 until her retirement in 2006.  She was an outstanding microscopist and dedicated her career to the exploration of the ultrastructure of cell-to-cell communication (gap junctions, tight junctions) in the nervous system of insects and other invertebrates. Nancy’s research resulted in 132 papers with 5,391 citations. She was awarded Honorary Doctorates by six universities, was elected President of the then Institute of Biology, and served on various Editorial Boards for learned journals as well as Non-Executive Director for several companies.

Nancy was also a leader in the promotion of women in STEM. She was the first director of WiSETI, which supports women in science, engineering and technology in Cambridge, and she co-founded the Athena Project. She was invited by the then Prime Minister, John Major to chair a report, published as The Rising Tide, concerning the situation of women in SET. She was awarded an OBE for this work in 1994.

In addition, we will remember Nancy for the warmth of her friendliness, her vivacity, the amazing rapidity of her speech and her glamorous sparkle which lit up the whole Department. Her memory will live on through her many artworks, some of which are displayed in the Department’s corridors, and because her face is the first we see as we enter the building from the Downing Street entrance. We shall miss her kindness, her lively interest in everyone around her and her generosity of spirit.  

Read more: Girton College's tribute to Nancy.

Image: left: Dr Nancy Lane right: Snail brain lysosome II, 2010 (acrylic on canvas) by Nancy Lane.