Igle Gledhill
Irvy Gledhill is a South African physicist at the University of Witwatersrand, School of Mechanical, Industrial & Aeronautical Engineering, in Johannesburg. She is a Vice President of the, and a Vice President of the .
Education
She has her bachelor's degree in physics, chemistry, and applied maths from Rhodes University in 1976 and an honours in Physics, 1977. She earned her PhD in plasma physics in 1983 from the University of Natal. Her research topic was Ion Acoustic Waves in Multi-Species Plasmas. She did postdocs at the University of California, Los Angeles in thermonuclear fusion, and in Space Shuttle-related plasma simulation at Stanford University's Space, Telecommunications and Radioscience Lab.Career
Early in her career she modelled plasma behavior at the temperatures of the stars, and plasma fusion, and why galaxies are galaxy-shaped.Starting in 1987, Dr. Gledhill worked as a fellow in the Defense Technology Operational Unit of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research South Africa. She specialized in transonic aerodynamics at Defencetek's Aeronautics Programme, using computational fluid dynamics. She also had a role in some of CSIR's strategic initiatives.
From 2000 to 2004, Dr. Gledhill served on South Africa's National Research Foundation panels. She was from 1995 to 1996. From 2000 to 2008, she served as President of the South African Association for Theoretical and Applied Mechanics and Chair of the South African National Committee for International Union of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics. From 2006 to 2012, she was a member of IUTAM Working Party 9 on Education and Capacity Building. She was a member of the Advisory Panel on Control Systems in Competitive Industry for National Research Foundation and of the International Panel on Shaping the future of physics in South Africa, a process for review and foresight developed by the South African Institute of Physics, the Department of Science and Technology, and the NRF. She became President of the South African Institute of Physics in 2013.
She was Chair of the Working Group on Women in Physics for the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics from 2014 to 2017, and is a member of the Executive of the Collaborative Project on the funded by the International Science Council. She joined the Interdisciplinary Committee of the World Cultural Council in 2015.
Together with Nithaya Chetty, previous Vice-President of IUPAP, she was responsible in 2022 for founding IUPAP Working Group 21 on Physics for Climate Change Action and Sustainable Development, of which she now serves as Secretary. For her work in physics and in the advancement of women in science, she was awarded an Honorary Doctorate by Rhodes University in 2024.
Currently she is the Honorary Adjunct Professor in Flow Physics at the University of Witwatersrand and is Chair of the Advisory Board for . In 2024 she was elected . She has served as of the .
Awards and honors
1993-1994 President, 2004 Award for Transformation, as a member of CFD Team: CSIR Defencetek “Assegai” 2009 Career Achievement Award, Defence, Peace, Safety and Security Operational Unit, CSIR2013-2015 President, South African Institute of Physics2012-2021 Member of Council, 2008-2010 Chair, CSIR Strategic Research Panel- 2014-2017 Chair,
- 2015,2023 Member, Interdisciplinary Committee
- 2019-present Ambassador for Women in Physics in South Africa, South African Institute of Physics
- 2019-2025 Vice-President for International Relations and Scientific Affairs,
- 2020-present Member of Council,
- 2022-present Member,
- 2023 Fellow of the South African Institute of Physics,
- 2023 Fellow of the American Physical Society
- 2023 Significant Contribution to the Natural Scientific Professions Award, SA Council for Natural Scientific Professions
- 2024 National Science and Technology Forum/Science Diplomacy Capital for Africa Award for science diplomacy in Africa
- 2024 Doctor of Science, Rhodes University
- 2025 Vice President for Membership and Development, IUPAP
- 2026 Fellow of The World Academy of Sciences, TWAS