Editing Margaret Thatcher (section)

===Oxford (1943–1947)===
[[File:Somerville College.jpg|alt=The Hall and Maitland Building of Somerville College, Oxford, in 2006|thumb|upright|Roberts studied chemistry at [[Somerville College]] (''pictured''{{--)}} from 1943 to 1947.]]

Following her arrival at Oxford, Roberts began studies under [[X-ray crystallographer]] [[Dorothy Hodgkin]], the tutor in chemistry for Somerville College since 1934.{{sfnmp|1a1=Blundell|1y=2008|1pp=25–27|2a1=Beckett|2y=2006|2p=16|3a1=Agar|3y=2022}}<ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-06-10 |title=Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin |url=https://www.some.ox.ac.uk/eminent/dorothy-crowfoot-hodgkin/ |access-date=2024-07-25 |publisher=Somerville College, Oxford |language=en-GB}}</ref> Hodgkin considered Roberts a "good" student, and later recalled: "One could always rely on her producing a sensible, well-read essay."{{sfnp|Agar|2022}} She opted to read for a classified [[honours degree]], entailing an additional year of supervised research.{{sfnp|Agar|2022}} As her thesis supervisor, Hodgkin assigned Roberts to work with [[Gerhard Schmidt (crystallographer)|Gerhard Schmidt]], a researcher in Hodgkin's lab, to determine the structure of the antibiotic [[peptide]] [[gramicidin S]].{{sfnmp|1a1=Campbell|1y=2000|1p=65|2a1=Agar|2y=2022}} Although the research made some progress, the peptide's structure proved more complex than anticipated, and Schmidt would only determine its full structure much later; Roberts (by then Thatcher) learned this in the 1960s while visiting the [[Weizmann Institute]], where her former research partner was then working.{{sfnp|Agar|2022}}

Roberts graduated in 1947 with a [[British undergraduate degree classification|second-class honours degree]] in chemistry, and in 1950 also received the degree of [[Master of Arts (Oxford, Cambridge, and Dublin)|Master of Arts]] (as an Oxford BA, she was entitled to the degree 21 terms after her [[Matriculation#United Kingdom|matriculation]]).<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Whittaker |first1=Freddie |last2=Waite |first2=Debbie |last3=Culliford |first3=Elizabeth |name-list-style=amp |date=9 April 2013 |title=Thatcher: college will honour its former student |url=https://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/10341124.thatcher-college-will-honour-former-student |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211028113352/https://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/10341124.thatcher-college-will-honour-former-student/ |archive-date=28 October 2021 |access-date=26 October 2021 |work=Oxford Mail}}</ref> Although Hodgkin would later be critical of her former student's politics, they continued to correspond into the 1980s, and Roberts in her memoirs would describe her mentor as "ever-helpful", "a brilliant scientist and a gifted teacher".{{sfnp|Agar|2022}} As prime minister, she would keep a portrait of Hodgkin at [[10 Downing Street]].{{sfnp|Agar|2022}} Later in life, she was reportedly prouder of becoming the first prime minister with a science degree than becoming the first female prime minister.<ref name="runciman20130606">{{Cite news |last=Runciman |first=David |author-link=David Runciman |date=6 June 2013 |title=Rat-a-tat-a-tat-a-tat-a-tat |url=http://www.lrb.co.uk/v35/n11/david-runciman/rat-a-tat-a-tat-a-tat-a-tat |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190309071240/https://www.lrb.co.uk/v35/n11/david-runciman/rat-a-tat-a-tat-a-tat-a-tat |archive-date=9 March 2019 |access-date=11 June 2013 |work=[[London Review of Books]]}}</ref> While prime minister, she attempted to preserve Somerville as a women's college.<ref name="bowcott20161230">{{Cite news |last=Bowcott |first=Owen |date=30 December 2016 |title=Thatcher fought to preserve women-only Oxford college |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/dec/30/thatcher-fought-to-preserve-women-only-oxford-college-somerville |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170101004346/https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/dec/30/thatcher-fought-to-preserve-women-only-oxford-college-somerville?CMP=oth_b-aplnews_d-2 |archive-date=1 January 2017 |access-date=31 December 2016 |work=The Guardian}}</ref> Twice a week outside study, she worked in a local forces canteen.{{sfnp|Dougill|1987|page=4}}

During her time at Oxford, Roberts was noted for her isolated and serious attitude.<ref name="Oxford1">{{Cite news |last=Moore |first=Charles |author-link=Charles Moore, Baron Moore of Etchingham |date=19 April 2013 |title=A side of Margaret Thatcher we've never seen |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/margaret-thatcher/10006410/A-side-of-Margaret-Thatcher-weve-never-seen.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180420214300/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/margaret-thatcher/10006410/A-side-of-Margaret-Thatcher-weve-never-seen.html |archive-date=20 April 2018 |access-date=25 July 2017 |work=The Telegraph |ref=none}}</ref> Her first boyfriend, Tony Bray (1926–2014), recalled that she was "very thoughtful and a very good conversationalist. That's probably what interested me. She was good at general subjects".{{r|Oxford1}}<ref name="Bray">{{Cite news |date=5 August 2014 |title=Tony Bray – obituary |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/11013968/Tony-Bray-obituary.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190205025842/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/11013968/Tony-Bray-obituary.html |archive-date=5 February 2019 |access-date=25 July 2017 |work=The Telegraph}}</ref>

She was a member of [[Wesley Memorial Church]], became a [[lay preacher]] and joined the John Wesley Society.<ref>{{Cite web |title=A short history of the John Wesley Society |url=https://www.wesleysoxford.org.uk/topics/john-wesley-society/a-short-history-of-the-john-wesley-society |access-date=28 February 2025 |website=Wesleys Oxford}}</ref><ref name="Filby" /> She also attended [[Somerville College Chapel]] and [[University Church of St Mary the Virgin|St&nbsp;Mary's]].<ref name="Filby" />

Roberts's coursework involved subjects beyond chemistry{{sfnp|Campbell|2000|p=47}} as she was already contemplating an entry into law and politics.<ref name="lecher20130408">{{Cite web |last=Lecher |first=Colin |date=8 April 2013 |title=How Thatcher The Chemist Helped Make Thatcher The Politician |url=http://www.popsci.com/science/article/2013-04/margaret-thatcher-politician-and-chemist-has-died |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170217043947/http://www.popsci.com/science/article/2013-04/margaret-thatcher-politician-and-chemist-has-died |archive-date=17 February 2017 |access-date=22 November 2014 |magazine=[[Popular Science]]}}</ref> Her enthusiasm for politics as a girl made Bray think of her as "unusual" and her parents as "slightly austere" and "very proper".{{r|Oxford1}}{{r|Bray}} Roberts became President of the [[Oxford University Conservative Association]] in 1946.{{sfnmp|1a1=Beckett|1y=2006|1pp=20–21|2a1=Blundell|2y=2008|2p=28}} She was influenced at university by political works such as [[Friedrich Hayek]]'s ''[[The Road to Serfdom]]'' (1944),{{sfnp|Blundell|2008|p=30}} which condemned economic intervention by government as a precursor to an authoritarian state.{{sfnp|Reitan|2003|p=17}}