Profile Interview: A life of a successful physics professor

Photo by Ivy Barn on Unsplash

Sat comfortably in the quiet dining room of my small village house, professor of medical physics, Angela Newing describes how wonderful her career journey has been and the privileges she has had along the way. She speaks in a tone that instantly hints the hard work and dedication she has put into her career along the years, mostly looking down at the table and taking herself back to the very beginning. Now living in Stroud, Gloucestershire, she tells me about working in a time when women were perhaps not encouraged to enter the world of science.

Born in London during the war, Newing had an enjoyable childhood with her older brother who claims with laughter and pride that she did "everything better than him." They were inseparable. This was the start of Newing's drive and determination to lead a successful career in medical physics. "I think my first memory in Woburn, and I was fairly tiny, was when we arrived at the back door of this cottage and noticed immediately some Victorian wallpaper, and that was really my first living memory."

The journey began when she decided to study physics at the University of Bristol. "I enjoyed it, although there weren't many women in physics and I still think there are not." The passion for physics started in grammar school and later turned into a passion for medical physics which arose when asked about her project in her final year. She goes on to describe how successful she was, despite being a woman in the industry at that time.  "I don't really have any setbacks in my career. I have been very fortunate in that the NHS has always been accepting of women. I have never been looked down upon, even though there are more women in physics than men. I think it's different now because new graduates in physics are quite keen to go into the caring professions and there are a good number of ladies now doing medical physics."

During her project she was placed at Bristol General Hospital to see how things went. "There was a very inspiring first Head Physicist there who was a very charismatic character. He was very enthusiastic about medical physics and full of research interests." This inspiration from the workplace played a big part in her future in medical physics. "During my third year, I thought I should have studied Maths, and if I was given the right advice at school, I would've taken medicine. Although it is quite a difficult one to get into. Medicine schools are absolutely filled with students. However, I have no regrets over my decision to study physics. I've never looked back."

"My proudest achievement was when I became director of medical physics for Gloucestershire. I was looking after radio therapy physics in Cheltenham at the time, a joint department between Cheltenham and Gloucester. Sadly, I didn't really get on with my then boss and head of physics but when he retired, I applied for his job. I have to say I was very surprised to be given an interview and get the job! I built up the department to a very large one. When I took over, there were 33 members of staff in medical physics. Radiation physics, nuclear medicine, ultra- sound and medical engineering and computing. I hadn't expected this!" This was the moment she had been offered a professor ship. "It brings me delight seeing where all my masters and PhD students have got to. I'm really proud that one of my PhD students is now head of physics at the University of Exeter."

Alongside teaching, Newing has delivered many academic and inspiring talks. One including a talk at The Imperial College in London in 1997 about the history of introducing the x-ray in 1895. Her face lights up as she describes this being one of her greatest achievements.

Amazon.co.uk. Book published in 1999

As well as the success of her career, she became known for designing a maze in a local garden. "It became a phenomenon!" Her love of puzzles resulted in her appearing on a radio show on radio 4 called Puzzle Panel. As well as teaming up with former Television personality and father of Zoe Ball, Johnny Ball to mark the anniversary of the garden. "The producer didn't want us talking about puzzles over tea, but we had nothing else in common."

Some useful advice that she would give for graduating students is to find something you enjoy and do not give up on it. "I think you need to have a job which you enjoy. There is no point in going into something where you're not happy. If you are enthusiastic about a certain field and there is a job suitable with your qualifications, the go for it and give it a proper go."