Australian National University Law Professor Jane Stapleton has broken through one of the thickest glass ceilings in academia – becoming the first woman to be elected Master of Christ's College Cambridge.
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While the college was founded by Lady Margaret Beaufort in 1505, it has taken more than 500 years for a woman to rise to become its 38th Master.
The college is renowned for educating some of Cambridge's most famous alumni, including Charles Darwin and John Milton.
But Professor Stapleton is characteristically understated about her ascension.
"Women of my generation, we tend to notch up these things all the time, it's like the first Jew, or the first person of colour, it's because there are centuries of prejudice and when this starts to crumble, there are going to be people there at the right time who get these notches, but it doesn't mean that there haven't been hundreds of thousands of women who shouldn't have been in the running for these jobs – it's just that there's been prejudice against them," Professor Stapleton said.
She said it was perhaps more remarkable that she has taken the role as the first foreigner.
Professor Stapleton came to law as a mature aged student, originally gaining a Science degree from the University of New South Wales in 1974 and a PhD in physical organic chemistry from the University of Adelaide in 1977.
She gained her law degree from the ANU in 1981 and has specialised in tort law and compensation for non-traumatic injuries, such as drug-induced injuries and cancer.
Professor Stapleton has concurrently held the Ernest E. Smith Professor of Law at the University of Texas, along with her ANU role. She is also the only non-US Council Member of the American Law Institute.
In Britain, she was the first woman to be elected as an Honorary Fellow at St John's College Cambridge and has held positions as Visiting Professor at Oxford and Emeritus Fellow at Balliol College, Oxford.
Her departure from the ANU is something of a double blow – she is relocating with her husband who is ANU College of Law Distinguished Professor Peter Cane.
The couple arrived at the university 20 years ago with a joint appointment as Professors to the Research School of Social Sciences.
Professor Stapleton said she was looking forward to being part of a democratic institution run by all its academics and the vibrant mixture of academics and students at the college – from mathematicians and historians to engineers and lawyers.
Cambridge's picturesque gardens and ancient buildings would also be appreciated.
