North America Working Group
The North America Working Group (NAWG) draws on the breadth of knowledge and expertise of its Fellows, together with its convening power, to debate and create new knowledge around some of our biggest challenges in collaboration with our international partners across the globe.
About the North America Working Group (NAWG)
In 2024, the RSE established the NAWG to engage our International Fellows in North America to draw on their expertise, and to build partnerships across the United States and Canada to ensure the delivery of “Knowledge Made Useful”, thereby supporting positive long-term international relations. Members of the working group will be informing the approach to partnerships and activities. This approach aims to facilitate bilateral partnerships and have the flexibility to capitalise on many long-standing multilateral networks which have grown up between North American and Scottish colleagues. The goal is to establish and develop research and innovation partnerships to address global challenges while being open to new ideas and initiatives as partnerships develop and mature.
The RSE’s focus is on impact across all projects and activities. Making a difference and identifying the added value in all activities will be at the forefront of any project the Working Group conducts.
Objectives
Membership
Stewart Aitchison IntFRSE
Professor and Nortel Chair in Emerging Technology, University of TorontoAfter receiving his Ph.D from Heriot-Watt in 1987, Professor Stewart Aitchison joined the University of Glasgow in 1990 and was promoted to Personal Chair of Professor of Photonics in 1999. Since 2001, he has held the Nortel Chair in Emerging Technology at the University of Toronto. From 2007 to 2012 he served as Vice-Dean Research for the Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering and provided strategic leadership to advance the Faculty’s research mission as one of the world’s leading engineering schools. Since 2013, Stewart has been the University of Toronto Associate Scientific Director for the Network Centre of Excellence, IC-IMPACTS, which funds collaborative research between Canada and India in the areas of safe infrastructure, clean water and public health. He is an internationally recognised researcher in the area of photonics and optics, with particular interest in nonlinear optics and biosensors for point-of-care monitoring systems.
Professor Polly Arnold FRSE
Director, Chemical Sciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, University of California, BerkeleyPolly Arnold holds the prestigious Crum Brown Chair of Chemistry at the University of Edinburgh. After earning her degrees from Oxford and Sussex, she conducted postdoctoral research at MIT as a Fulbright Fellow before returning to the UK in 1999 to begin her academic career as a lecturer. Her research explores the design and synthesis of highly reactive f-block complexes capable of activating stable small molecules such as carbon oxides, dinitrogen, and hydrocarbons. This work offers fundamental insights into the structure and bonding of elements at the lower end of the periodic table. She continues to influence policy and public discourse through international lectures, media appearances, and advisory roles. In recognition of her contributions to both chemistry and the advancement of women in STEM, she was awarded an OBE in 2017.
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Professor David Batty FRSE
Professor of Epidemiology, University College LondonDavid Batty is a Professor of Epidemiology at University College London (2017-), Visiting Professor at the Universities of Edinburgh and Glasgow (2009-), and a former Wellcome Trust Fellow (2004-12). An aetiological epidemiologist, the objective of his research is to understand how behavioural, psycho-social, and biological factors across the life course and between generations influence the risk of chronic disease and injury. The ultimate aim of his work is prevention. His research has resulted in 600+ peer-reviewed publications and, since 2017, according to Web of Science, he has been a Highly Cited Researcher. He is Deputy Editor of the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health (2010-), and mentor to early career researchers via national and international programmes.
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Alan Cumming HonFRSE
Actor, Producer, Singer, Author and Activist, ScotlandAlan Cumming is an internationally-recognised screen and theatre actor, author, social activist, and – most recently – bar owner, based in New York City. Alan got his start as a student at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and has since gone on to perform – both in character and as himself – in films, television and on stages all over the world. His memoir Not My Father’s Son became a #1 The New York Times bestseller. Alan’s activism for civil rights, sex education and social justice causes has earned him over forty humanitarian awards. His portrait hangs in the Scottish National Portrait Gallery.
Of his Honorary Fellowship, he said: “We are at a time in history when more than ever before we need to talk, debate, and conclude. It is such an honour to be asked to join such a great group of thinkers and I am so excited to meet the RSE fellows.” -
Professor Ian Duncan IntFRSE
Florence Green Bixby Professor of English, University of California, BerkeleyEducated Fettes College; King’s College, Cambridge; Yale University (PhD). Teaching positions: Yale University; University of Oregon; University of California, Berkeley (since 2001). Current position: Florence Green Bixby Chair in ENglish, UC Berkeley.
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Professor Moriba Jah IntFRSE
Co-Founder and Chief Scientist, PrivateerMoriba Jah is the Chief Scientist of Privateer, which he co-founded with Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak. Privateer is a data and intelligence platform empowering the future of space sustainability. As a renowned space environmentalist and astrodynamicist, Moriba brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise in space object detection, tracking, identification, and characterization, as well as spacecraft navigation to the Privateer team, where he is developing the first highly accurate space traffic map that aggregates multi-source data on Earth orbiting space objects, as a means to power the new space economy and make space exploration safe and sustainable.
Jah previously worked as a spacecraft navigator at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, where he was a navigator for the Mars Global Surveyor, Mars Odyssey, Mars Express, Mars Exploration Rover, and the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.
He is a recipient of the 2022 MacArthur Foundation Genius Grant.
Moriba is also an associate professor of Aerospace Engineering and Engineering Mechanics at The University of Texas at Austin where he is the holder of the Mrs. Pearlie Dashiell Henderson Centennial Fellowship in Engineering. He serves on many professional bodies and is a Fellow of multiple organizations. -
Dr M. N. V. Ravi Kumar IntFRSE
Distinguished University Research Professor, The University of AlabamaDr. M. N. V. Ravi Kumar is a Distinguished University Research Professor and the Founding Director of the Center for Convergent Bioscience and Medicine (CCBM) at The University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa. Prior to his current position, Dr. Kumar served on faculty at the National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research (NIPER), Mohali, India, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, UK, and Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas, USA. Dr. Kumar has made substantial contributions to advancing the field of nanomedicines, as evidenced by numerous high-impact publications, abstracts/conference presentations, and invited/guest lectures. Dr. Kumar continues to be a prolific researcher, a passionate teacher and educator (training and inspiring > 60 next-generation researchers), and actively serves the profession by participating in several scientific societies. Dr. Kumar has won several internationally recognized awards and secured a strong extramural, federally funded research program that drives innovative contributions to the future of therapeutic development.
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Patrick Macdonald FRSE
Co-Founder, School for CEOsPatrick is Chair of Moneypenny and Arcus FM. He is a Founding Partner of the School for CEOs, director of NatureSpace Partnership and an angel investor in a number of startup companies.
He is Vice-chair of the Scottish Advisory Committee of the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award (DofE) and a member of the CMI Women Advisory Committee. He was formerly Chair of the Institute of Directors (IoD).
He started his professional career at the Ministry of Defence before working for Unilever and Boston Consulting Group, based in Germany and the UK. Patrick then joined General Electric (GE) in the USA before returning to the UK and becoming CEO of John Menzies plc, a quoted, family-backed logistics company. He has subsequently led a number of private equity-sponsored businesses, including waste management firm Reconomy.
Patrick holds a first class Honours degree in Engineering Science from Oxford University and an MBA with Distinction from INSEAD in France. He is a Chartered Engineer, a Chartered Manager, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, a Fellow of the Linnean Society, a Fellow of the Institute of Directors and a Companion of the Chartered Management Institute. He is also a Sainsbury Management Fellow. Professor Marc Mangel IntFRSE
Professor, University of California, Santa CruzMarc Mangel is an eminent Professor Emeritus of Mathematical Biology at the University of California, Santa Cruz, and Professor Emeritus of Biology in the Theoretical Ecology Group at the University of Bergen, Norway. His career began at the Operations Evaluation Group of the Center for Naval Analyses, where he applied operations research to naval problems. In 1980, he transitioned to academia at UC Davis, shifting his focus to real-world applications in fisheries and agriculture, and later joined UC Santa Cruz in 1996. Although he retired from teaching and administrative duties in 2013, he maintained an active research program -with external grant support continuing through 2022 – and remains engaged in research today. Marc’s work lies at the intersection of theory and application, using mathematical tools to tackle complex questions in biology, particularly in ecology, evolution, and behaviour. He is a leading figure in what Donald Stokes termed “Pasteur’s Quadrant”: research that seeks fundamental understanding while addressing pressing applied problems.
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Professor Keith Mathieson FRSE
Convenor, RSE North America Working GroupKeith Mathieson received his B.Sc./Ph.D degrees in physics from Glasgow University in 1997 and 2001 and was a recipient of an RSE Personal Research Fellowship (2005) to develop retinal implants. He was awarded an SU2P Fellowship (2009) to work at Stanford on the development of an optoelectronic retinal prosthesis. He took up an academic position at the University of Strathclyde (2011), where he holds a Royal Academy of Engineering Professorial Chair in Emerging Technologies and served as Director of the Institute of Photonics from 2013-2022. His research interests focus on the development of neurotechnologies to further understanding of the brain.
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Catherine Stihler FRSE
Chief Executive Officer, Habitat for Humanity Monterey BayBorn in Scotland, Catherine was educated at St Andrews University, she received a Master of Arts (MA) with Honors in Geography and International Relations and Master of Letters in International Security Studies. She holds a Master of Business Administration from the Open University and honorary Doctor of Letters from St Andrews University for her contributions as the 52nd Rector and for her public service. She was Member of the European Parliament for Scotland in 1999, for the Labor Party. Catherine was elected Vice-Chair of the European Parliament’s Internal Market and Consumer Protection Committee, founded the Campaign for Parliamentary Reform and the parliament’s All-Party Library Group.
In 2019, Catherine received an OBE by Her Majesty the Queen in recognition of her services to politics. That same year, she stood down from the European Parliament to become the chief executive officer of the Open Knowledge Foundation. In August 2020, Catherine was appointed chief executive officer of Creative Commons, She was selected to the Fellowship of Scotland’s national academy, the Royal Society of Edinburgh (RSE) in 2022. Professor Rein Ulijn FRSE
Professor of Chemistry, Hunter College, City University of New YorkProfessor Rein Ulijn is currently Professor of Nanochemistry and Vice-Dean Research at the University of Strathclyde. His research is focused on bioinspired nanotechnology – incorporation of properties of living systems, especially the ability to adapt to its environment, into man-made materials. This gives rise to new systems and materials with unprecedented properties, which are of use in biomedical and technological applications. Rein was the founder of two University spinout companies, Renephra Ltd (in Manchester) and Biogelx Ltd in Glasgow, of which he is Chief Scientific Officer. He is the founding Director of the Nanoscience Initiative at CUNY, New York’s Advanced Science Research Centre.
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