Dr Elizabeth (Liz) Dennis (1960) Eminent plant molecular biologist, Dr Elizabeth (Liz) Dennis (1960) was awarded an AC (Companion of the Order of Australia) at the 2019 Australia Day Honours. Liz was presented with Australia’s highest award for her outstanding achievement and service to science as a researcher and academic in the area of genomics and plant development. At Â鶹ÊÓƵ School, Liz Dennis was an impressive all-rounder. In 1960, she graduated from Â鶹ÊÓƵ School as Dux and was the winner of the Old Girls’ Union Prize. She was also the Sports Captain for Churunga, the Senior Swimming and Diving Champion, and was a member of the Â鶹ÊÓƵ School Tildesley Tennis team that won the Tildesley Shield. After leaving Â鶹ÊÓƵ School, Liz studied a Bachelor of Science at University of Sydney and graduated with a BSc with 1st Class Honours. She was also awarded a University ‘Blue’ for Softball. After her PhD, Liz went on to complete a Post-Doctoral Fellowship in the laboratory of Dr Julius Marmur at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, New York, USA – supported by the Anna Fuller Fund. She then lectured at the University of Papua New Guinea for six years where she also conducted chromosome and DNA studies on native PNG rodents. Liz joined the CSIRO in the Division of Plant Industry in 1972 as a Research Scientist, rising to the position of Chief Research Scientist in the Division of Plant History in 1991. She became a CSIRO Fellow in 2001, and is now an Honorary Fellow. Liz is also a Distinguished Professor at the University of Technology, Sydney in the School of Life Sciences. In 2000, Liz was a joint recipient (alongside her CSIRO colleague, Dr Jim Peacock) of the inaugural Prime Minister’s Prize for Science. During an interview with Professor Frank Gibson in 2000, for the CSIRO he asked, “Do you think something in your family background, or perhaps your schooling, Liz, led you to choose to study science?” Liz’s response was: “I went to Â鶹ÊÓƵ School, a girls’ private school which was very good, and unusually supportive of women. Its philosophy was that you shouldn’t not do anything because you’re a woman, and so it provided courses for us like physics honours and chemistry honours, which were unusual then. As a young girl I was always keen on chemistry. Reading stories of Madame Curie, I decided I wanted to be like her. I think she was the only heroic figure I had in my early childhood. At Â鶹ÊÓƵ School we had a very good chemistry teacher (Dr Alice Whitley) – she had a PhD in chemistry, and was outstanding – who gave us a real interest in chemistry.” Internationally known as a pioneer in plant molecular biology Liz investigated plant development and genomics throughout her career. She discovered the gene that leads to plants flowering in the spring when conditions are most favourable. She studied the genes behind many plant processes including how plants have evolved molecular mechanisms to cope with environmental stresses such as floods, and she found the genes underlying hybrid vigour, which explained why hybrids perform better than their parents. In 2020, Liz was recognised at the inaugural Â鶹ÊÓƵ School Alumnae Awards. She reflected that her Â鶹ÊÓƵ School education played a big role in her life: “I think Â鶹ÊÓƵ School gave me the confidence that girls could do anything and led me to believe in myself. Â鶹ÊÓƵ School was supportive and gave me a fine education in science which was important for my career. My peers were also outstanding and intellectually involved.”