Margaret Baird grew up in Tauranga, a small town that is on the North Island of New Zealand. She attended the University of Otago, where she studied zoology and graduated in 1967. After graduating Baird worked as a high school teacher, teaching biology at St Hilda’s Collegiate School. She developed debating and drama programs for the school students. Her husband joined the King George VI School in Honiara in 1970, and soon after Baird followed to teach science and art. In 1972 she returned to New Zealand, where she worked as a Speech and Drama teacher. Baird became interested in microbiology and enrolled on a postgraduate course in immunology at the University of Otago. She was the only woman and oldest person on the course. She eventually started a doctoral degree in transplant immunology, working with Barbara Heslop at the University of Otago. In 1984 she earned her PhD, and later that year coordinated an important immunology meeting in Queenstown. The 1985 meeting would lead to the formation of the Australia and New Zealand Society for Immunology.
Research and career
Baird investigated dendritic cells. She was made a lecturer in the Microbiology Department at the University of Otago, where she investigated the role of dendritic cells in infectious diseases and cancer. She was promoted to Professor in 2011. When Baird retired in 2012 she was made a part time Professor in the Department of Pathology at the University of Otago. In this capacity she studied the role of p53 in tumour suppression. She also studied how p53 was involved in the regulation of dendritic cell function.
Academic service
Baird taught immunology courses at the University of Otago. In 2013 she was the first New Zealander to be awarded the Derrick Rowley Medal, which represents outstanding service to Immunology and the Australia and New Zealand Society for Immunology.
Margaret Baird Women in Immunology Award
In 2019 the Australia and New Zealand Society for Immunology established the Margaret Baird Women in Immunology Award. The award is worth $5,000 AUD to fund a trans-Tasman lectureship. This lectureship will involve a series of guest lectures across New Zealand and Australia, focusing on the applicant’s research, but also including perspectives on equity and balance in science careers.
