Joyce Eleanor Fildes was born in Balmain, Sydney, on 20 May 1921. She graduated with a BSc from the University of Sydney in 1942. She was employed in the University of Sydney's Organic Chemistry Department (1942–4) and in the School of Chemistry (1944–50), before becoming a microanalyst at the Department of Medical Chemistry of the John Curtin School of Medical Research in London in 1950. She earned her MSc (1953) and PhD (1956) degrees at the University of Birmingham before returning to Australia in 1956 as a Research Fellow in Medical Chemistry. She established the Microanalytical Service, servicing all medical researchers in the School. In July 1961, she became a Fellow. She retired in 1982. Dr Fildes gave an endowment to the Australian National University for the Joyce Fildes Honours Scholarship in Medical Science. Dr Fildes was an active Fellow in the Royal Australian Chemical Institute, and was the first female Executive Council member of the RACI, in 1980. She was also an active member of The Australian Federation of Graduate Women and the Zonta Club of Canberra. Dr Joyce Fildes was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia in 2000 for services to the community. She died on 15 November 2013.