Elizabeth Gardner

Elizabeth Gardner (25 August 1957 – 18 June 1988) was a British theoretical physicist. She is best known for her groundbreaking work on a phase transition known as the Gardner transition and on disordered networks. Early life and education Gardner was born in Cheshire, UK. Both of her parents were chemical engineers. Gardner was interested in science from an early age. In 1975, she enrolled in University of Edinburgh to study mathematical physics. She graduated with first class honors, and was awarded the Tait Medal in 1979, Robert Schlapp Prize, and the Class medal. Gardner completed her D.Phil. studies at Oxford under the supervision of I.J.R. Aitchison. Her thesis was in particle physics, and focused on non-Abelian gauge theories. Despite fulfilling requirements, Gardner did not formally graduate from Oxford. Career Following her D.Phil., Gardner moved to the Saclay Nuclear Research Centre, where she spent two years, supported by a Royal Society Fellowship. She worked on a variety of topics in field theory and the theory of disordered systems, and began to work on spin glasses.