Women Working in the Nuclear Field
IAEA First Ladies
Mary Jeffreys
Mary Jeffreys was the first female appointed at the Professional level in the entire United Nations System, and the first woman to work at the highest Professional level (P5) at the IAEA.
Ms. Jeffreys joined the newly created United Nations in September 1945, having worked as a Civil Assistant in the War Office in London. She was posted to UN Headquarters in New York where she worked in close collaboration with the UN Secretary-General.
Mary Jeffreys came to the IAEA in 1958 as First Officer in the then Division of External Liaison. In 1962 she was appointed as Senior Officer in the IAEA, becoming the first female staff member to hold the high-ranking P5 post - a post with diplomatic status. In 1964, she was assigned for several months as "Acting Representative" of the Director General of the IAEA at the UN Headquarters, New York. From 1967, she acted as Chief Liaison Officer in the Office of External Relations.
Ms. Jeffreys passed away in 1975 during active service with the IAEA and is remembered as a female pioneer who provided invaluable and dedicated service to the United Nations and to the IAEA.
Another trend-setting Agency woman was Ms. Annick Carnino, who was appointed by the Director General as the IAEA´s Focal Point for Gender Concerns and served in this office from 1996 to 2002 (succeeded by Ms. Anita Nilsson). During this time Ms. Carnino held the post of Director of the Division of Nuclear Installations in the Department of Nuclear Safety.
Ms. Carnino spent her entire career in the nuclear industry, ending with her retirement from the IAEA in December 2002. Her work experience made her especially sensitive to the difficulties which women professionals face in the nuclear industry. As a result she constantly sought new ways in which to encourage more women to study nuclear sciences and to attract more female scientists into the nuclear field. A website for IAEA women was Ms. Carnino´s idea.
Ms. Carnino also served as President of WIN Global, a world-wide association of women working professionally in the fields of nuclear energy and radiation applications. She held the post for four years, working to support the networking of women in nuclear sciences across the world, and to establish a continuing link between the Agency and WIN. Annick Carnino has left a lasting legacy at the IAEA in promoting gender equality and women´s empowerment.
Visit the WIN Website.
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