Betty Allan

Frances Elizabeth Allan (1905–1952) was an Australian statistician. She was known as the first statistician at the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO),[1] as "the effective founder of the CSIRO Division of Mathematics and Statistics",[2] and for her advocacy of biometrics.[1]

Allan was born on 11 July 1905 in St Kilda, Victoria; her parents were both journalists with The Argus, and she was one of four sisters.[3][4] As a schoolgirl, she attended the Melbourne Church of England Girls' Grammar School.[3] She studied mathematics at the University of Melbourne,[3][4] earning a bachelor's degree in 1926 and a master's in 1928 for her work with John Henry Michell on solitary waves on liquid-liquid interfaces.[3]

In 1928 Allan traveled on a scholarship to Newnham College, Cambridge,[3][4] where she studied applied mathematics, statistics, applied biology, and general agriculture. A year later, she travelled to Rothamsted Experimental Station in Hertforshire to work alongside Ronald Fisher studying crop experiments and developing statistical methods. While at Rothamsted she produced three important papers,[5] collaborating with John Wishart on one.[6]

Returning to Australia in 1930, she became the first biometrician at CSIRO,[7] appointed to the Division of Plant Industry. While at CSIRO, she provided statistical assistance to all six divisions alongside external organisations.[8]

During her time at CSIRO, Allan also taught at Canberra University College and the Australian Forestry School.[4] In 1935, she helped found the Australian Institute of Agricultural Science.[3]

In 1940 she married CSIRO botanist Patrick Joseph Calvert, and was forced to retire by the laws of the time, which banned married women from public service.[1][4] She died on 6 August 1952 in Canberra.[4]

The Betty Allan Data Centre of CSIRO's Queensland Centre for Advanced Technologies is named after her.[1] In 2019 the Statistical Society of Australia and Data61 created a joint travel award named in her honour.[9]