Eleanor Ormerod (1828-1901)

Eleanor Ormerod was a British entomologist and the first woman to be given an honorary degree from the University of Edinburgh. To commemorate her achievements, the University named a new research cloud computing service "Eleanor".

Eleanor Anne Ormerod was a British entomologist who established the fields of economic and agricultural entomology. She acquired extensive knowledge on controlling insect pests, and her publications on this subject became very popular, establishing her as an authority on entomology.

Ormerod was a consultant to the Royal Agricultural Society and was awarded the Flora Medal by the Royal Horticultural Society for her contributions to their collection of insect pests.  She also received silver and gold medals from the University of Moscow for her models of insects harmful to plants.

She became the first woman to be given an honorary degree from the University of Edinburgh, and was also the first woman to be honored with a Fellowship in the Meteorological Society.

Her portrait can be found at the foot of the south-east stair in Old College, lauded as Edinburgh's first honorary woman graduate. Ormerod was further honored through Virginia Woolf's story, "Miss Ormerod", which was based on her life, and published in the American magazine The Dial. 

In 2017, the University named their research cloud computing service, "Eleanor", after her. 

To read more, please visit: Eleanor Anne Ormerod - Wikipedia