Mildred Macfarlan Barnard (5 August 1908 – 9 March 2000) was an Australian biometrician, mathematician and statistician.
Born In Melbourne on 5 August 1908, she died in Brisbane on 9 March 2000. Barnard undertook most of her tertiary education at the University of Melbourne. She won a Dixson Scholarship in 1931, graduated with a Bachelor of Science (BSc) also completing a Master of Arts (MA) in 1932. She then studied at University College, London and her Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) was conferred by University of London in 1936. While there she worked in the Galton Laboratory and later published papers on the growth of wheat crop measurements and associated meteorological factors.
She tutored and lectured at the University of Melbourne.
On her return to Australia she was employed as Assistant Biometrician at the Council for Scientific and industrial Research (CSIR), Division of Forest Products (1938–1941). While at CSIR she worked with Betty Allan. Topics that Barnard researched were the 'holding power of coach screws and the serviceability of railway sleepers and telegraph poles'.
Barnard was a demonstrator in the Mathematics Department and lectured in Mathematical Statistics at the University of Queensland.
Her book Elementary Statistics for Use in Timber Research was published in 1956 after being printed twice for CSIR use.
She was the first Chairwoman (1972) of the Brisbane Branch of the International Biometric Society, Australasian Region.
She was also known as Mildred Macfarlan Prentice.
Her mother was Jessie Margaret Barnard who was a war worker and charity worker, and her father was Robert James Allman Barnard who was a foundation professor of mathematics at Duntroon’s Royal Military College. After returning to Melbourne he was a mathematics senior lecturer.