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Elizabeth Rebecca Laird' (1874-1969) was a Canadian physicist who chaired the physics department at Mount Holyoke College for nearly four decades. She was the first woman accepted by Sir J.J. Thomson to conduct research at Cambridge University's Cavendish Laboratory. Laird graduated from the London Collegiate Institute in 1893, and attended University College of the University of Toronto after, due to her gender, she was denied an exhibition scholarship where she could have studied abroad. She earned her Ph.D. in physics and mathematics from Bryn Mawr in 1901.

Biography
Elizabeth Laird was born on December 6, 1874, in Owen Sound Ontario. Her mother was Rebecca Laird and her father was Reverend John Laird, a Methodist minister. She died in 1969.

Education
In 1893 Laird graduated from the London Collegiate Institute, and went on to attend University College of the University of Toronto, where she majored in mathematics and physics and received the university's Gold Medal. 1893 - Graduated from the London Collegiate Institute

1896 - Earned her bachelor of arts degree in mathematics and physics from University College of the University of Toronto

1898 - Received a postgraduate fellowship in physics from Bryn Mawr College

1901 - Earned her Ph.D. in physics and mathematics from Bryn Mawr College

1927 - Received an honorary degree from from the University of Toronto

1954 - Received an honorary degree from the University of Western Toronto

Career at Mount Holyoke College
1901 - Hired by Mount Holyoke College as an assistant in physics

1902 - Promoted to instructor

1903 - Appointed head of the physics department

1940 - retired to emerita status

Later Career
After volunteering for the National Research Council of Canada at the University of Western Ontario during World War II, Laird became an honorary professor of physics from 1945 to 1953. Under grants from the Canadian Cancer Foundation she conducted research on the absorption of ultra-high frequency radiation by tissue.