RSE welcomes 66 new Fellows 2018
Leading figures from academia, public service, business and the arts join Scotland’s National Academy
The Royal Society of Edinburgh (RSE) is pleased to announce the election of 66 new Fellows.
The new Fellows include former Prime Minister and Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown, who since leaving politics has become a hugely respected advocate for a variety of humanitarian issues and global education; and the US-based philanthropist and former pianist, Carol Colburn Grigor, who has donated more than £30 million to the arts in Scotland and lent her support for a variety of arts campaigns in the UK. Both have been elected as Honorary Fellows.
The 66 new Fellows will help the RSE to continue to provide independent and expert advice to policymakers, support aspiring entrepreneurs, develop research capacity and leadership, inspire and facilitate learning and engage with the general public through inspiring events.
The RSE, unusual amongst National Academies for its multi-disciplinary approach, continues to strengthen its Fellowship by appointing leading professionals from within the arts, business and public sector as well as within academia. Some of these leading professionals include:
Zinnie Harris
Playwright, Screenwriter and Theatre Director
Harris is arguably Scotland’s leading female playwright, writing for large national companies including the Royal Shakespeare Company and the National Theatre of Scotland, and directing plays for the National Theatre of Scotland, Traverse and Lyceum Theatres.
As a screenwriter she has written for BBC1 and Channel Four, most prominently with the hit TV series Spooks.
Ian Callum
Director of Design, Jaguar
Ian Callum is one of the world’s leading automotive designers and had been Director of Design at Jaguar since 1999. In 2006 was elected Royal Designer for Industry by the Royal Society of Arts.
Jayne-Anne Gadhia
Chief Executive Officer, Virgin Money
Chief Executive Officer, Virgin Money since 2007. In May 2016 on behalf of the UK Government she published her review of Women in Finance which focuses on progressing gender diversity. She sits on the Board of Trustees of the Tate.
Gordon Charles Rintoul
Director, National Museums of Scotland
In 2002 Gordon Rintoul became Director of the National Museums Scotland, the leading visitor attraction in Scotland with 2.7 million annual visitors across four sites. He oversaw the £60 million development of the National Museum of Scotland which is now the most visited attraction outside London.
Our new RSE Fellows are also involved in the highest levels of research:
Giles Hardingham
Professor of Molecular Neurobiology, University of Edinburgh
As Director of the Edinburgh-based MRC UK Dementia Research Institute, Giles Hardingham is undertaking key research impacting on dementia and neurodegenerative disease research.
Giles Hammond
Professor of Experimental Gravitational Physics, University of Glasgow
Giles Hammond played a pivotal role in the recent detection of gravitational waves from binary black hole mergers, leading the work on noise reduction that was the critical factor in enabling the detection. He is also a founding member of the RSE Young Academy of Scotland.
Michele Burman
Professor of Criminology, Head of School of Social and Political Sciences, University of Glasgow
Michele Burman is a leading criminologist in Scotland. Her research on young women and violence and on criminal justice responses to rape has had a significant impact on policy, legislation and police and judicial training.
International work is key to the RSE, demonstrating the strength of our international programme, several notable individuals join the RSE as Corresponding Fellows, including:
Ian Frazer
Head, Cancer Immunotherapy Program, University of Queensland
Co-inventor of the technology behind the HPV vaccine which has been administered to over 130 million people globally.
Man-Chung Tang
Chairman of the Board, T.Y. Lin International
A civil engineer, Tang is the world’s leading innovator of cable-stayed bridges. Works includes Yangpu Bridge, Shanghai, China – one of the world’s longest bridges and Penang Bridge, the second longest bridge in Malaysia.
Diversifying the Fellowship – new RSE Fellows 2018:
The RSE is committed to diversifying its Fellowship and with that in mind we are delighted that 41% of our new Fellows are female. The RSE is also pleased to welcome six current and former Young Academy of Scotland (YAS) members, bringing the total number of former or current YAS members in the RSE Fellowship to 12.
On 1st April 2018, the RSE’s new President and Council will take up their positions. For the first time since its conception in 1783, the RSE has a council membership that is majority female, including first female President Dame Jocelyn Bell Burrell, and is led by its first female CEO, Dr Rebekah Widdowfield. The new Council in April 2018 will continue to be majority female including Professor Dame Anne Glover as President and Dr Allison Elliott OBE as General Secretary.
Commenting on the new fellows, current President of the RSE, Professor Jocelyn Bell Burnell DBE, said, “Each year we welcome a selection of nominated extraordinary individuals into the Fellowship and this year is no exception. The diverse range of achievements of these individuals will be an asset to the RSE and I am sure they will strengthen the RSE’s standing as a national academy committed to providing public benefit to Scottish society. I also welcome the increasing number of female Fellows to the RSE, something we have focused on improving in past years and part of our wider commitment to diversity.”
List of on all new RSE Fellows 2018:
Honorary Fellows
Rt Hon Gordon Brown
Office of Gordon and Sarah Brown
Carol Colburn Grigor
Trustee, Dunard Fund
Eric Richard Kandel
University Professor, Columbia University
Judith Weir
Composer, Master of the Queen’s Music
International Fellows
Hilary Helen Birks
Professor Emerita in Quaternary Palaeoecology and Palaeoclimate Research, University of Bergen
William Hamilton Dalrymple
Writer and Historian
Dmitry Fedosov
Senior Research Fellow, Russian Academy of Sciences
Ian Hector Frazer
Head, Cancer Immunotherapy Program, University of Queensland
Douglas Gordon
Artist
Ying-Cheng Lai
Professor of Physics and Chair Professor of Electrical Engineering, Arizona State University
Man-Chung Tang
Chairman of the Board, T.Y. Lin International
Fellows
Philip Neil Best
Professor of Extragalactic Astrophysics, University of Edinburgh
Ronald Bowie
Partner, Hymans Robertson
Christopher John Breward
Director, Collection and Research, National Galleries of Scotland
Jessica Brown
Professor of Philosophy, University of St Andrews
Michele Burman
Professor of Criminology, Head of School of Social and Political Sciences, University of Glasgow
Douglas Laidlaw Cairns
Professor of Classics, University of Edinburgh
Ian Stuart Callum
Director of Design, Jaguar
Peter Jephson Cameron
Professor of Mathematics, University of St Andrews
Colin Campbell
Chief Executive and Director, The James Hutton Institute
Siddharthan Chandran
MacDonald Professor of Neurology, University of Edinburgh
Denise Assunta Coia
Chair, Healthcare Improvement Scotland
Sandy Crombie
Chairman, Amiqus Resolution Ltd
Audrey Cumberford
Principal and Chief Executive, West College Scotland
Sarah Curtis
Professor Emeritus, Durham University and Honorary Professor, University of Edinburgh
Michael Evan Davies
Jeffrey Hamilton Collins Professor of Signal and Image Processing, University of Edinburgh
Marc Philippe Yves Desmulliez
Deputy Head of Institute of Sensing, Signals and Systems and Director of Microsystems Engineering Centre, Heriot-Watt University
Elaine Dzierzak
Professor of Haematological Regeneration, University of Edinburgh
Karen Jane Faulds
Professor of Pure and Applied Chemistry, University of Strathclyde
Joerg Feldmann
Head, Department of Chemistry, University of Aberdeen
Charles Ffrench-Constant
Professorial Fellow, University of Edinburgh
Sandy Finlayson
Founder, MBM Commercial LLP
Jayne-Anne Gadhia
Chief Executive Officer, Virgin Money
Crawford Gillies
Chairman, The Edrington Group Ltd
John Calum MacDonald Gillies
Deputy Director, Scottish School of Primary Care
Muriel Gray
Presenter, Broadcaster, Author and Businesswoman
Giles Dominic Hammond
Professor of Experimental Gravitational Physics, University of Glasgow
Giles Edward Hardingham
Professor of Molecular Neurobiology, University of Edinburgh
Zinnie Harris
Playwright, Screenwriter and Theatre Director
Robert Henderson
Professor of Electronic Imaging, University of Edinburgh
Eva Hevia
Professor in Pure and Applied Chemistry, University of Strathclyde
Catherine Heymans
Professor of Observational Cosmology, University of Edinburgh
Bernard Higgins
Chairman, National Galleries of Scotland
Peter Jackson
Professor of Global Security, University of Glasgow
Kathleen Jamie
Professor of Creative Writing, University of Stirling
Ruth King
Thomas Bayes’ Professor of Statistics, University of Edinburgh
Nicholas Christopher Kuenssberg
Chairman, Social Investment Scotland and the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland
Barbara Lane
Director, Ove Arup & Partners Ltd
Michael Ernest John Lean
Professor of Human Nutrition, University of Glasgow
Angus Donald MacKintosh MacDonald
Independent Businessman and Investor, Arts & Medical Research Philanthropist
Fiona Mackay
Professor of Politics; Director genderED, University of Edinburgh
Michela Massimi
Professor of Philosophy of Science, University of Edinburgh
Alison Dorothy Murray
Roland Sutton Professor of Radiology, University of Aberdeen
Deborah Antoinette O’Neil
Chief Executive Officer and Chief Scientific Officer, Novabiotics
Chris Ponting
Professor of Medical Bioinformatics, University of Edinburgh
Wayne Powell
Principal and Chief Executive, SRUC – King’s Buildings Campus
Martin Price
Director, Centre for Mountain Studies, Perth College, University of the Highlands and Islands
Gordon Charles Rintoul
Director, National Museums of Scotland
Jo Shaw
Salvesen Professor of European Institutions, University of Edinburgh
David Sigsworth
Chairman, Sigma Capital Group plc
Nicola Stanley-Wall
Professor of Microbiology, University of Dundee
Jane Stuart-Smith
Professor of English Language and Linguistics, University of Glasgow
Cathie Sudlow
Professor of Neurology and Clinical Epidemiology, University of Edinburgh
Jano Van Hemert
Research Director, Optos Plc
The Rt Hon Lord James Wallace of Tankerness
The Rt Hon Lord, Member, House of Lords
Moira Whyte
Director, MRC Centre for Inflammation Research and Sir John Crofton Professor of Respiratory Medicine, University of Edinburgh