{{short description|British chemist (born 1944)}} {{for|the Australian scientist|Mary Ellinor Lucy Archer}} {{Use dmy dates|date=May 2016}} {{Infobox scientist | honorific_prefix = Dame | name = Mary Archer | honorific_suffix = {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=90%|DBE}} | image = Lady Mary Archer honorary commander induction (cropped).jpg | caption = Mary Archer in 2011 | birth_name = Mary Doreen Weeden | birth_date = {{birth date and age|df=yes|1944|12|22}} | birth_place = Epsom, Surrey, England | education = Cheltenham Ladies' College | alma_mater = {{unbulleted list |University of Oxford (MA)|Imperial College London (PhD)}} | fields = Solar energy conversion | workplaces = {{plain list| * Somerville College, Oxford * St Hilda's College, Oxford * Royal Institution * Newnham College, Cambridge * Trinity College, Cambridge * National Energy Foundation }} | doctoral_students = Joanna Bauldreay | spouse = {{marriage|Jeffrey Archer|1966}} | children = 2 }}
'''Mary Doreen Archer''' (formally '''Lady Archer of Weston-super-Mare''', commonly '''Dame Mary Archer''', {{post-nominals|country=GBR|DBE}} ({{nee|'''Weeden'''}}; born 22 December 1944<ref name=science>{{cite book |chapter=Contribution from Mary Archer |chapter-url=https://www.worldscientific.com/doi/10.1142/9781860948930_0016 |year=2006 |doi=10.1142/9781860948930_0016 |access-date=14 October 2021 |last=Archer |first=Mary |title=The Life and Scientific Legacy of George Porter |pages=585–609 |isbn=978-1-86094-660-8}}</ref>), is a British scientist specialising in solar energy conversion.
Married to novelist Jeffrey Archer and appointed DBE in 2012, she currently serves as Chancellor of the University of Buckingham.<ref>[https://www.buckingham.ac.uk/about/governance-structure-and-committees/university-chancellor/ Profile], buckingham.ac.uk. Accessed 30 March 2026.</ref>
==Early life and education== Born in 1944 at Epsom, Surrey, the younger daughter of Harold Norman Weeden {{post-nominals|country=GBR|FCA}}<ref name=Rustin>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/science/2015/oct/23/dame-mary-archer-interview|last=Rustin|first=Susanna|title=Dame Mary Archer interview: 'To me everything has to work round family, and fortunately it has'|work=The Guardian|location=London|date=23 October 2015|access-date=31 October 2015}}</ref> and Doreen ''née'' Cox,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.freebmd.org.uk/cgi/information.pl?cite=BRQX6QjE9Q9En8h5zYE9ag&scan=1|title=Index entry: Weeden, Harold N., spouse: Cox, registration entry: Surrey Mid. E., volume/page: 2a/628|access-date=20 December 2016|work=Transcription of official national marriages registers compilation for England and Wales 1835–1983|publisher=ONS}}</ref> she attended Cheltenham Ladies' College, before reading chemistry at St Anne's College, Oxford.
She pursued further studies in physical chemistry at Imperial College London, taking a PhD (Londin):<ref name=Maguire>{{cite news |last=Maguire |first=Kevin |author-link=Kevin Maguire (journalist) |title=Why Mary has stood by her man |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2001/jul/20/conservatives.archer2 |work=The Guardian |location=London |date=20 July 2001 |access-date=28 April 2012}}</ref> her thesis was titled "Heterogeneous catalysis of inorganic substitution reactions" and was submitted in 1968.<ref>{{cite thesis |last=Archer |first=Mary Doreen |title=Heterogeneous catalysis of inorganic substitution reactions |url=https://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.623178 |website=E-Thesis Online Service |publisher=The British Library |access-date=6 November 2021 |date=1968 |type=Ph.D}}</ref>
==Career== Archer was elected a junior research fellow at St Hilda's College, Oxford, from 1968 to 1971.<ref name="WW 21">{{cite web |title=Archer, Dame Mary (Doreen), (born 22 Dec. 1944), Chair: Science Museum Group, since 2015 (Trustee, National Museum of Science and Industry, 1990–2000); External Advisory Board, Centre for Personalised Medicine, St Anne's College, Oxford, since 2013 |url=http://www.ukwhoswho.com/view/article/oupww/whoswho/U5659 |website=Who's Who 2021 |publisher=Oxford University Press |access-date=6 November 2021 |date=1 December 2020}}</ref> She was then a temporary lecturer in chemistry at Somerville College, Oxford for the 1971/72 academic year.<ref name="WW 21" /> After Oxford, she worked as a scientific researcher under George Porter, Baron Porter of Luddenham at the Royal Institution in London.<ref name=science/> It was during this period that she became interested in photoelectrochemistry, and has since written and lectured extensively on the subject.
Appointed to the board of directors of the International Solar Energy Society,<ref name="Rustin" /> Archer was elected a Fellow of Newnham College becoming a lecturer in chemistry at Trinity College in the University of Cambridge between 1976 and 1986.<ref name="WW 21" /><ref name="Speaker">{{cite web|url=http://www.speakers4schools.org/speakers/dame-mary-archer|title=Speaker Profile: Dame Mary Archer|work=Speakers for schools|access-date=1 November 2015|archive-date=8 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160308000547/http://www.speakers4schools.org/speakers/dame-mary-archer/|url-status=dead}}</ref> From 1984 to 1991, she was a director of the Fitzwilliam Museum Trust and a non-executive director of Mid Anglia Radio plc between 1988 and 1995.<ref name="Bedell">{{cite news |last=Bedell |first=Geraldine |title=Interview: Mary Archer – A Jeffreyish streak |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/interview-mary-archer-a-jeffreyish-streak-with-her-seasonal-album-the-demure-exdon-reveals-a-taste-for-publicity-says-geraldine-bedell-corrected-1564775.html |access-date=14 October 2021 |work=The Independent |date=23 October 2011}}</ref>
Archer joined the Council of Lloyd's in 1988,<ref>[https://www.lloyds.com/about-lloyds/the-corporation/governance-structure/council-of-lloyds www.lloyds.com]</ref> becoming Chairman of ''Lloyd's Hardship Committee'' the following year,<ref>[https://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/lloyd-s-urged-to-change-hardship-1425435.html www.independent.co.uk]</ref><ref name="Rustin" /> having been a Lloyd's 'Name' since 1977.<ref name="Rayner">{{cite news |last=Rayner |first=Jay |author-link=Jay Rayner |title=Mary had a little lamb... |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2000/oct/01/archer.lifeandhealth |work=The Observer |location=London |date=1 October 2000 |access-date=31 October 2015}}</ref>
From 1988 to 2000, Archer chaired the National Energy Foundation, which promotes improving the use of energy in buildings, becoming its President<ref>{{cite web|title=National Energy Foundation trustees: Mary Archer|url=http://www.nef.org.uk/about-us/trustees/#Archer|website=www.nef.org.uk|publisher=National Energy Foundation|access-date=6 November 2015|archive-date=28 November 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151128074101/http://www.nef.org.uk/about-us/trustees/#Archer|url-status=dead}}</ref> then Patron.<ref name="nef-chair">{{cite web|url=http://www.nef.org.uk/about-us/press-releases/national-energy-foundation-welcomes-new-chair-and-announces-new-president-a|title=National Energy Foundation welcomes new Chair|publisher=National Energy Foundation|access-date=20 April 2017|archive-date=21 April 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170421002903/http://www.nef.org.uk/about-us/press-releases/national-energy-foundation-welcomes-new-chair-and-announces-new-president-a|url-status=dead}}</ref> President of the UK Solar Energy Society (UK-ISES),<ref>[https://solarenergyuk.org/ www.solarenergyuk.org]</ref> she is a Companion of the Energy Institute and was awarded its Melchett Medal in 2002.<ref name="Speaker" />
Archer has written and contributed to various volumes of work concerning solar energy, including ''Photochemical & Photoelectrochemical Approaches to Solar Energy Conversion'', which took 15 years to write. She co-edited ''Clean Electricity from Photovoltaics'' (2001); ''Molecular to Global Photosynthesis'' (2004); ''The 1702 Chair of Chemistry at Cambridge: Transformation and Change'' (2005) and ''Nanostructured and Photoelectrochemical Systems for Solar Photon Conversion'' (2008).<ref name=Speaker/>
In 1994, she was a non-executive director of Anglia Television at a time when it was the target of a takeover bid. Following reports from the London Stock Exchange, the Department of Trade and Industry appointed inspectors on 8 February 1994 to investigate possible insider trading contraventions by certain individuals, including her husband. No charges were brought.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/1999/oct/30/londonmayor.uk|first=Nicholas|last=Watt|title=Archer's share deal under scrutiny again|date=30 October 1999|work=The Guardian|location=London|access-date=31 October 2015}}</ref> Between 1991 and 1999 she sat on the Council of the Cheltenham Ladies' College.<ref name="Bedell"/>
Archer chaired Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (incorporating Addenbrooke's and the Rosie Hospitals) for 10 years until 2012, having previously been a non-executive director (1993–99), and vice-chair (1999–2002) of Addenbrooke's Hospital NHS Trust.<ref>{{cite web|title=Mary Archer receives award in Queen's Birthday Honours list |url=http://www.cuh.org.uk/news/mary-archer-receives-award-queen%E2%80%99s-birthday-honours-list|work=cuh.org.uk|date=16 June 2012|access-date=1 November 2015}}</ref> Between 2005 and 2008, she led a pioneer NHS-funded initiative to create patient decision aids for patients with localised prostate cancer (or BPH). In 2007 she was awarded the Eva Philbin Award of the Institute of Chemistry of Ireland.<ref name=Speaker /> She was founder director of Cambridge University Health Partners 2009–12,<ref name=Culture>{{cite web|url=http://www.gov.uk/government/news/prime-minister-appoints-dame-mary-archer-as-new-chairman-of-the-science-museum-group|title=Prime Minister appoints Dame Mary Archer as new chairman of the Science Museum group |publisher=Department of Culture, Media and Sport|date=29 October 2014|access-date=31 October 2015}}</ref> and was deputy chair of ACT (Addenbrooke's Charitable Trust) from 1997 to 2015. In 2015, she led a group to create an online PDA and information/advice for bladder cancer patients in Addenbrooke's Hospital, and across the Anglia Cancer Network.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://sdm.rightcare.nhs.uk/advisory-groups/contributors/dame-mary-archer/|title=Dame Mary Archer profile at Rightcare|date=29 October 2014|access-date=1 November 2015|archive-date=4 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304054042/http://sdm.rightcare.nhs.uk/advisory-groups/contributors/dame-mary-archer/|url-status=dead}}</ref>
A Trustee of the Science Museum Group from 1990 to 2000, then Chairman from 2015,<ref>{{cite web|date=2021|title=Board of Trustees|url=https://www.sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk/about-us/board-of-trustees/|access-date=2021-03-11|website=Science Museum Group}}</ref> on 24 February 2020, Archer was installed as Chancellor of the University of Buckingham.<ref>{{cite web |title=Dame Mary Archer appointed new Chancellor of the University of Buckingham |url=https://www.buckinghamtoday.co.uk/news/people/dame-mary-archer-appointed-new-chancellor-university-buckingham-1373931 |website=Buckingham & Winslow Advertiser |access-date=7 April 2020 |date=23 January 2020}}</ref> She serves as Chairman of the Salters' Institute,<ref>[https://saltersinstitute.org/about-us/ www.saltersinstitute.org]</ref> and in 2024 was appointed Chairman of the Royal Parks Board.<ref>[https://www.gov.uk/government/news/new-chair-appointed-to-the-royal-parks-board www.gov.uk]</ref>
==Honours== [[File:Medal, order (AM 2012.13.2-1).jpg|thumb|right|110px|DBE breast star]] Appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in the 2012 Birthday Honours for "services to the National Health Service".<ref>{{London Gazette|date=16 June 2012|issue=60173|page=6|supp=y}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Queen's Birthday Honours: Mary Archer made Dame|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cambridgeshire-18455616|access-date=6 November 2015|publisher=BBC News|date=16 June 2012}}</ref> <br>''Dame Mary Archer Way'', the link road between Addenbrooke's and the Rosie extension, was named by Cambridge City Council in 2013 by way of recognising the achievements of its former chairman.<ref>{{cite web |title=New road drives Cambridge to top spot for biomedical research|url=https://www.cuh.nhs.uk/news/communications/new-road-drives-cambridge-top-spot-for-biomedical-research |website=Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust|access-date=24 August 2018}}</ref>
Dame Mary Archer is a Freeman of the City of London and a Liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Salters.<ref>[https://salters.co.uk/ Worshipful Company of Salters website], salters.co.uk. Accessed 30 March 2026.</ref>
==Personal life== She married Jeffrey Archer in July 1966, whom she met at Oxford University when he was studying for a diploma in education.<ref name="Stanford">{{cite news |last=Stanford |first=Peter |title=Mary Archer: 'Jeffrey asked from jail if I wanted a divorce, but I'm not a quitter' |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/books/authors/mary-archer-jeffrey-asked-from-jail-if-i-wanted-a-divorce-but-im/ |work=The Telegraph |date=19 February 2016 |access-date=26 February 2016}}</ref>
In the summer of 1974, the Archers were struck by a financial crisis when Jeffrey lost over £400,000 in a bad investment. Faced with the threat of bankruptcy, the Archers were forced to move out of their large house in The Boltons.<ref name="Steeple">{{cite web |title=CHEAPER THAN FICTION – A BARGAIN IN THE BOLTONS |url=https://www.thesteepletimes.com/opulence-splendour/the-boltons-archer/ |website=www.thesteepletimes.com |date=10 July 2020 |access-date=11 July 2020}}</ref> Mary took up a teaching post at Cambridge University which, together with her husband's eventual success as a novelist, saved them from financial ruin.<ref name=Rayner/>
In 1987, she gave evidence at the High Court in a libel case brought by her husband against the ''Daily Star'' newspaper, which had correctly reported that he had hired a sex worker, with whom he had sexual intercourse.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.newlawjournal.co.uk/nlj/content/fragrant-archers|last=Bindman QC|first=Geoffrey|title=The fragrant Archers|publisher=New Law Journal|date=4 September 2009|access-date=31 October 2015}}</ref> In 2001, when Jeffrey Archer was prosecuted for having committed perjury and for perverting the course of justice in the 1987 trial, she appeared at the Old Bailey as a defence witness.<ref>[https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/1422010.stm "Mary Archer: For better and worse"], BBC News, 2001</ref> Jeffrey Archer was subsequently convicted and imprisoned for perjury and perverting the course of justice.<ref name=Clough>{{cite news |last=Clough |first=Sue |title=The end: Archer goes to jail |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1334653/The-end-Archer-goes-to-jail.html |work=The Telegraph |date=20 July 2001 |access-date=3 November 2015}}</ref> The trial judge, Mr Justice Potts, questioned the veracity of Lady Archer's evidence, suggesting that she too had perjured herself.<ref name=Stanford /> However, no further action was taken.<ref name=Kelso>{{cite news |last=Kelso |first=Paul |title=Mary Archer may sell her story |url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2001/jul/23/pressandpublishing.archer1 |work=The Guardian |date=23 July 2001 |access-date=3 November 2015}}</ref>
In 2003, she sued her former personal assistant, Jane Williams, over her breach of confidentiality. Archer was granted a permanent injunction<ref>{{cite web |last=Agencies |date=3 July 2003 |title=Lady Archer wins high court battle |url=http://www.theguardian.com/uk/2003/jul/03/archer.politics |access-date=26 December 2022 |website=The Guardian}}</ref> against Williams plus £2,500 damages, for her claim she misappropriated confidential documents about the Archer family, and had contracted the sale of the personal information to the media which was then published by the ''Sunday Mirror'' newspaper.<ref name=Woolcock>{{cite news|last=Woolcock|first=Nicola|title='Lady Archer's attractive but her husband's a jerk'|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1434682/Lady-Archers-attractive-but-her-husbands-a-jerk.html|access-date=3 November 2015|work=The Telegraph|date=3 July 2003}}</ref> Williams had previously taken Archer to an industrial tribunal on a complaint of unfair dismissal; the complaint was dismissed by the panel in 2002.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2002/sep/03/stevenmorris |last=Morris |first=Steven |title=Mary Archer was difficult and mean, says aide |work=The Guardian |location=London |date=3 September 2002 |access-date=31 October 2015}}</ref><ref name=Sapsted>{{cite news|last=Sapsted|first=David|title=Lady Archer fights claim by sacked secretary|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1405986/Lady-Archer-fights-claim-by-sacked-secretary.html|access-date=3 November 2015|work=The Telegraph|date=2 September 2002}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |date=2002-10-25 |title=Lady Archer vindicated by tribunal |url=http://www.theguardian.com/uk/2002/oct/26/archer.politics |access-date=2022-12-26 |website=The Guardian}}</ref> Lady Archer underwent major surgery for bladder cancer in 2011.<ref>{{cite news|last=Bloxham|first=Andy|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/celebritynews/8712769/Mary-Archer-on-her-battle-with-bladder-cancer.html|title=Mary Archer on her battle with bladder cancer|work=The Telegraph|location=London|date=19 August 2011|access-date=28 April 2012}}</ref>
Mary and Jeffrey Archer live at the Old Vicarage, Grantchester, near Cambridge.<ref name="Scott">{{cite news |last=Scott |first=Danny |title=At home with Lord and Lady Archer |url=https://www.thetimes.com/life-style/property-home/article/at-home-with-lord-and-lady-archer-cvncb5b60 |work=The Sunday Times |date=4 November 2018 |access-date=12 July 2020}}</ref> They have two sons.
==Other== She sings first alto and in 1992 released a CD of Christmas carols, titled ''A Christmas Carol''.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/interview-mary-archer-a-jeffreyish-streak-with-her-seasonal-album-the-demure-ex-don-reveals-a-taste-1564775.html|last=Bedell|first=Geraldine|title=Interview: Mary Archer – A Jeffreyish streak: With her seasonal album, the demure ex-don reveals a taste for publicity|work=The Independent|date=23 October 2011|access-date=1 November 2015}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist|30em}}
===Further reading=== {{wikiquote}} {{commons category|Mary Archer}} *{{Cite book| authorlink=Mary Archer|first=Mary|last=Archer|title=The Story of The Old Vicarage Grantchester|year=2012 |publisher=Old Vicarage Press |isbn=978-0-9572551-0-4}} *{{Cite book| first=Margaret|last=Crick|title=Mary Archer: For Richer, For Poorer|isbn=978-0-7432-5962-0|date=2005-05-12|publisher=Simon & Schuster UK }}
{{s-start}} {{s-academic}} {{s-bef|before=<small>The Hon.</small><br>Lady Keswick}} {{s-ttl|title=Chancellor<br>University of Buckingham|years=2020–present}} {{s-inc}} {{s-end}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Archer, Mary}} Category:1944 births Category:Living people Category:People educated at Cheltenham Ladies' College Category:Alumni of St Anne's College, Oxford Category:Alumni of Imperial College London Category:20th-century British chemists Category:21st-century British chemists Category:20th-century British women scientists Category:21st-century British women scientists Archer of Weston-super-Mare Category:British physical chemists Category:British women chemists Category:British women academics Category:People from Epsom Category:People from Grantchester Category:Fellows of Somerville College, Oxford Category:Fellows of Newnham College, Cambridge Category:Members of the University of Cambridge Department of Chemistry Category:Women academic administrators Category:English science writers Category:Directors of museums in the United Kingdom Category:British women museum directors Category:People associated with the Science Museum, London Category:British businesswomen Category:British women business executives Category:Dames Commander of the Order of the British Empire Category:Spouses of life peers Category:British academic administrators Category:20th-century English educators Category:21st-century English educators Category:20th-century English businesswomen Category:20th-century English businesspeople Category:21st-century English businesswomen Category:21st-century English businesspeople Category:People associated with the University of Buckingham Category:20th-century English women educators Category:21st-century English women educators Category:Chemists of the University of Oxford