Rita Cornforth

Rita Cornforth
Cornforth at the University of Sydney
Born(1915-09-16)16 September 1915
Bexley, New South Wales
Died6 November 2012(2012-11-06) (aged 97)
Sussex, England
Resting placeClayton Wood Natural Burial Ground
NationalityAustralian
Other namesLady Cornforth
Alma materUniversity of Sydney (BSc (Hons) 1936, MSc 1937)
Somerville College, Oxford (DPhil, 1941)
SpouseJohn Cornforth
Scientific career
InstitutionsNational Institute for Medical Research
Milstead Laboratory of Chemical Enzymology
Thesis Synthesis of cyclic ketones related to the sex hormones  (1941)
Doctoral advisorRobert Robinson

Rita Harriet Cornforth, Lady Cornforth (16 September 1915 − 6 November 2012) was an Australian–British biochemist who pioneered the synthesis of penicillamine and steroids, and the stereochemistry of molecules involved in the biosynthesis of cholesterol.