Alice Vibert Douglas

Allie “Alice” Vibert Douglas (née Douglas Vibert), OC, MBE, astronomer, astrophysicist (born 15 December 1894 in Montreal, QC; died 2 July 1988 in Kingston, ON). Douglas had an accomplished career and taught at McGill University before serving as dean of women and professor of astronomy at Queen's University. She was the first woman to become president of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada.

Career

Alice Vibert Douglas interrupted her undergraduate studies at McGill University in 1915 during the First World War. She went overseas to England and worked in the London War Office as a statistician (see Statistics). For her work she was made a member of the Order of the British Empire in 1918. Douglas returned to Montreal and completed her BA (1920) and MA (1921) at McGill University. From 1921 to 1923 she studied at the Cambridge Observatory and the Cavendish Laboratory in England and in 1925 at the Yerkes Observatory in Wisconsin (see Observatory). Douglas received her doctorate in astrophysics from McGill University in 1926.

Douglas was a lecturer at McGill University until 1939. That same year, she became dean of women Queen’s University and later professor of astronomy. Douglas served as dean until 1959 and retired in 1964.

Douglas was the first woman to serve as president of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada from 1943 to 1944. She was the first Canadian to become president of the International Federation of University Women (as of 2015 Graduate Women International), a position that she held from 1947 to 1950.

Select Publications

Alice Vibert Douglas was asked to write the biography of the British astrophysicist Arthur Stanley Eddington, with whom she previously studied. Published in 1956, the biography was widely praised. Douglas also authored numerous academic articles.

Legacy

In 1967, the National Council of Jewish Women of Canada named Alice Vibert Douglas one of the “Women of the Century.” In 2024, the inaugural Dr. Allie V. Douglas Prize was presented at McGill University. Established by the astrophysicist Victoria Kaspi, the prize is awarded to the top PhD thesis in astrophysics.

Honours and Awards

In honour of Alice Vibert Douglas asteroid 3269 was named Vibert-Douglas in 1988. Similarly, a patera (a crater) on the planet Venus was named after her in 2003. In addition to these honours, Douglas was awarded several honorary doctorates and distinctions, including the following: