Kathleen Rachel Makinson (née White) was born on 15 February 1917 in England. While studying at Newnham College Cambridge she participated in student politics in both communism and the Peace Movement, and emigrated to Australia in 1939 after marrying another physicist, Richard Elliss B Makinson. She held positions as Research Assistant in Physics at the University of Sydney 1939-1941; Assistant Lecturer at the University of Melbourne 1941-1944; CSIR (Council for Scientific and Industrial Research) Radiophysics Laboratory 1944-1945; Division of Physics at the National Standards Laboratory 1945-1950; ICI Research Fellow in Electrical Engineering at the University of Leeds 1950-1952. Makinson began her work at the CSIRO (Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation) Division of Textile Physics in 1953, and was Senior Principal Research Scientist 1971-1977, and Chief Research Scientist 1977-1982 in the division. She was Assistant Chief, CSIRO Division of Textile Physics 1979-1982. In 1981 she was elected a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering and in 1982 was made a Member of the Order of Australia (AM). She died on 16 September 2014.