The RSE, Scotland’s National Academy, today announces the addition of 62 new Fellows from the worlds of business, science, creative arts, health, technology, law, public engagement and international development.
They join an existing Fellowship of over 1600 individuals who give their time and expertise for free to support the RSE in delivering its mission of ‘knowledge made useful’.
RSE delivers on that mission through
- inspiring and supporting young talent through a wide-ranging programme of research grants and awards
- engaging the public across Scotland on key contemporary issues through its outreach programme RSE@ and a wide-ranging programme of public events
- providing impartial advice and expertise to inform policy and practice through in-depth examination of major issues and providing expert comment on topical matters - promoting Scotland’s interests overseas through building relationships with sister academies across the world and facilitating research collaborations.
Figures joining the RSE this year include Christine Bell FBA, Professor of Constitutional Law and Assistant Principal at the University of Edinburgh; Jenny Brown, literary agent; Mark Cousins, filmmaker, writer, historian and curator; Hermione Cockburn, Scientific Director at Dynamic Earth; Alastair Ager, Director of the Institute of Global Health and Development at Queen Margaret University; Philip Long, Director of V&A Dundee, Jane Duckett FBA, Director of the Scottish Centre for China Research at University of Glasgow who is the key person in Scotland working on Chinese politics and, in 2014, was elected President of the British Association for Chinese Studies, and John McAslan CBE, Executive Chairman at John McAslan and Partners and named “World Architect of the Year” in 2009.
Two Honorary Fellows have also been appointed in this new intake: Johannes Clevers, Professor of Molecular Genetics at the Hubrecht Institute; the first person to identify stem cells in the intestine and one of the world’s leading researchers on normal stem cells and their potential for regenerative therapy; and Donald Runnicles, Generalmusikdirector at the Deutsche Oper in Berlin. He holds one of the top posts in opera in the world and has conducted the best orchestras and opera companies internationally. Edinburgh born, Runnicles still maintains strong links with Edinburgh and Scotland, including as Conductor Emeritus of the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra.
Four Corresponding Fellows have also been appointed. These are those who have attained high international standing in any subject within the Society’s disciplinary domains and are not normally resident in the UK. 2019’s intake includes Swapan Chattopadhyay, Distinguished Scientist at Fermilab, Peter Currie, Director of the Australian Regenerative Medicine Institute at Monash University, Mario Herrero, the Chief Research Scientist of Agriculture and Food at the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, and Lesley Smith, Solicitor and Partner at Weber Steinhaus & Smith.
The RSE is also pleased to welcome seven current and former members Young Academy of Scotland (YAS) which is made up of over 120 young professionals and academics. Members do not automatically become Fellows, but this year, YAS members who do join the Fellows of the RSE include Silvia Paracchini, Royal Society University Research Fellow, University of St Andrews who has made ground-breaking contributions to her field of human genetics by identifying several key genes as well as contributing to the understanding of their role during brain development; and Stuart Reid, Professor of Biomedical Engineering, University of Strathclyde, who is an experimental physicist who is successful in both biomedical and astronomical research areas. He co-invented the ‘nanokicking’ technique that uses vibrations to manipulate and control stem cell behaviour, recently widely-reported for its use in treating osteoporosis.
Commenting on the new fellows, President of the RSE, Professor Dame Anne Glover, said, “The calibre of our Fellows never ceases to amaze me and this year is no different. For such a small country we surpass ourselves with the talent and expertise that exists across our academic, cultural and business landscape. All of our Fellows are assets, not just to the RSE but to Scotland and the rest of the world, and I look forward to welcoming and working with them”.
The new Fellows will be inducted in May 2019. More information on the current membership and the work of the RSE can be found at www.rse.org.uk
ENDS
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NOTES FOR EDITORS:
The RSE is an educational charity, registered in Scotland, operating on a wholly independent and non-party-political basis and providing public benefit throughout Scotland.
It was established in 1783 and since then has drawn upon the considerable strengths and varied expertise of its Fellows, of which there are currently around 1600, based in Scotland, the rest of the UK and beyond.
NOTES ON SOME OF THE FELLOWS NAMED IN MAIN ARTICLE
56 new Fellows (alongside 2 Honorary Fellows and 4 Corresponding Fellows) are appointed to the RSE this year from across the disciplinary domains. Below is an introduction to just a handful of those selected to bring their time and expertise to the areas of Health, Law, International Development, Business, the Creative Arts and the Public Sector, as well as two members of the Young Academy of Scotland who join the RSE Fellowship.
International Development / Global Justice / Global Health
Alastair Ager
Deputy Chief Scientific Adviser, Department for International Development; Professor of Population and Family Health, Columbia University; Director, Institute of Global Health and Development, Queen Margaret University.
Ager has worked in the field of global health and development for over 30 years. He has previously been Head of the Department of Psychology at the University of Malawi. He is proudest of the impact that his work has had on policy and practice regarding de-institutionalisation strategies for persons with learning disabilities, refugee integration policy in Scotland, the UK, and beyond, and global mental health provision in humanitarian contexts.
Christine Bell
Professor of Constitutional Law and Assistant Principal (Global Justice), University of Edinburgh
Bell is a leader in her field of the law on peace-making. Her work has very broad international importance. Her projects have had a major impact on peace negotiations, and have helped reframe the relationship between international and constitutional law in negotiations.
Jane Duckett FBA
Edward Caird Chair of Politics and Director of the Scottish Centre for China Research, University of Glasgow
Duckett has made a major contribution to the study of Chinese politics and policy. She establishing the Scottish Centre for China Research and as founding Director of the University of Glasgow Confucius Institute. She is the key person in Scotland working on Chinese politics and, in 2014, was elected President of the British Association for Chinese Studies.
Creative Arts
Jenny Brown
Literary agent, Jenny Brown Associates
Brown was the Director of the Edinburgh Book Festival during the key first 10 years, creating what is widely regarded as the premier book festival in the world. She was also involved with Edinburgh’s successful bid to win the first UNESCO City of Literature Award.
Mark Cousins
Filmmaker, writer, historian and curator
Cousins is an Irish-Scottish filmmaker and author. His films have won the Prix Italia, a Peabody and the Stanley Kubrick Award. He has filmed in Iraq, Sarajevo during the siege, Iran and across Asia. He is a patron of the Edinburgh International Film Festival and has worked with Michael Moore, Jane Fonda and Tilda Swinton.
Philip Long
Director, V&A Dundee
Long has been responsible for the development of the Scotland’s first design museum from 2011, the year after Kengo Kuma won the international architectural competition. He has guided the project throughout this time and ensured the successful opening of V&A Dundee last September, a key part of the redevelopment of the Dundee waterfront.
Public Sector and Public Engagement
Hermione Cockburn
Scientific Director, Dynamic Earth
Cockburn is an award winning science communicator with a 20 year career that has taken her from being an innovative researcher in geomorphology to her current position as Scientific Director of Dynamic Earth. She has presented a range of science radio and television for the BBC. She is particularly interested in facilitating engagement between the environmental science research community and public audiences.
Business
John McAslan CBE
Executive Chairman, John McAslan and Partners; Chairman, Dunoon Burgh Hall Trust
McAslan was responsible for the transformation of King’s Cross Station in London and for the refurbishment of the Surgeons’ Hall Museum in Edinburgh. His practice is currently working on the renewal of the Burrell Collection in Glasgow. In 1997 McAslan established a family trust, which provides support for arts and educational projects in the UK and overseas.
Young Academy of Scotland (YAS)
Silvia Paracchini
Royal Society University Research Fellow, University of St Andrews
Paracchina has made ground-breaking contributions to her field of human genetics by identifying several key genes as well as contributing to the understanding of their role during brain development. She is an active member of the Young Academy of Scotland.
Stuart Reid
Professor of Biomedical Engineering, University of Strathclyde
Reid is an experimental physicist who is successful in both biomedical and astronomical research areas. He co-invented the ‘nanokicking’ technique that uses vibrations to manipulate and control stem cell behaviour [recently widely-reported for its use in treating osteoporosis https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-46953192].
Stuart won the RSE President’s medal (2016) for contribution to Gravitational Waves detection and has been a co-chair of the Young Academy of Scotland.
HONORARY FELLOWS
Honorary Fellows are those who are members of the Royal House or persons eminently distinguished in any subject within the Society’s disciplinary domains.
Johannes (Hans) Carolus Clevers
Professor of Molecular Genetics, Hubrecht Institute.
Clevers was the first to identify stem cells in the intestine and is one of the world's leading researchers on normal stem cells and their potential for regenerative therapy. Clevers also discovered that abnormalities in the signals involved in normal colon development can lead to colon cancer.
He is a past President of the Royal Dutch Academy of Arts and Sciences
Donald Cameron Runnicles OBE
Generalmusikdirektor, Deutsche Oper Berlin
Runnicles holds one of the top posts in opera in the world and has conducted and recorded with the best orchestras and opera companies internationally.
He is Edinburgh-born and still maintains strong links with Edinburgh and Scotland, including as Conductor Emeritus of the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra.
He was awarded the RSE’s Royal Medal in 2017 for his outstanding contribution to the art of music at the highest international level.
CORRESPONDING FELLOWS
Corresponding Fellows are those who have attained high international standing in any subject within the Society’s disciplinary domains and are not normally resident in the UK.
Swapan Chattopadhyay
Distinguished Scientist, Fermilab; President’s Professor of Research, Scholarship and Artistry and Director of Accelerator Research, Northern Illinois University; Visiting Professor, University of Oxford and University of California at Berkeley.
Chattopadhyay’s field of research is science and technology of particle and light beams, which is interdisciplinary and with global impact. His international leadership in particle accelerators and quantum sensors have many synergies with Scottish science, enabling collaborations with research groups across Scotland in accelerators, lasers, plasmas, quantum sensors, particle physics, astrophysics, and cosmology and bringing US and EU collaborations to bear on Scottish science and technology developments.
Peter Currie
Director, Australian Regenerative Medicine Institute, Monash University.
Currie’s work defines genetic and evolutionary basis for muscle formation and growth. He played a key role in developing zebrafish as a disease model for human muscle disease and regeneration biology including stem cell biology.
Mario Herrero
Chief Research Scientist, Agriculture and Food, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO).
Herrero’s research focuses on increasing the sustainability of food systems for the benefit of humans and ecosystems. He works in the areas of sustainable intensification of agriculture, climate mitigation and adaptation, livestock systems, and heathy and sustainable diets. He is a regular contributor to important global initiatives at the heart of the sustainability of global food systems. Professor Herrero was awarded his postgraduate degrees from The University of Edinburgh
Lesley Jane Smith
Solicitor and Partner, Weber Steinhaus & Smith; Professor of Law, Leuphana University Luneburg.
Smith is very publicly engaged in the issue of space law in Europe, and has carried out impressive work on engagement with European policy committees, and had useful and important connections with industry. She straddles law and science, and collaborates with scientists and lawyers at the University of Strathclyde.
FULL LIST OF ALL NEW FELLOWS APPOINTED IN 2019
HONORARY FELLOWS
Johannes (Hans) Carolus Clevers
Professor of Molecular Genetics, Hubrecht Institute.
Donald Cameron Runnicles OBE
Generalmusikdirektor, Deutsche Oper Berlin.
CORRESPONDING FELLOWS
Swapan Chattopadhyay
Distinguished Scientist, Fermilab; President's Professor of Research, Scholarship and Artistry and Director of Accelerator Research, Northern Illinois University; Visiting Professor, University of Oxford and University of California at Berkeley.
Peter David Currie
Director, Australian Regenerative Medicine Institute, Monash University.
Mario Herrero
Chief Research Scientist, Agriculture and Food, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO).
Lesley Jane Smith
Solicitor and Partner, Weber Steinhaus & Smith; Professor of Law, Leuphana University Luneburg.
FELLOWS
Ian David Abrahams
NM Rothschild and Sons Professor of Mathematics, Isaac Newton Institute for Mathematical Sciences; Director, Isaac Newton Institute for Mathematical Sciences.
Dave John Adams
Professor of Chemistry, University of Glasgow.
Alastair Kenneth St.Clair Ager
Deputy Chief Scientific Adviser, Department for International Development; Professor of Population and Family Health, Columbia University; Director, Institute of Global Health and Development, Queen Margaret University.
Geoffrey John Barton
Professor of Bioinformatics and Head of the Division of Computational Biology, School of Life Sciences, University of Dundee
Linda Caroline Bauld
Bruce and John Usher Chair in Public Health, University of Edinburgh; CRUK/BUPA Chair in Behavioural Research for Cancer Prevention, Cancer Research UK
Christine Bell FBA
Professor of Constitutional Law and Assistant Principal (Global Justice), University of Edinburgh.
Luke Alexander Bisby
Professor of Fire and Structures, University of Edinburgh.
Jenny Brown
Literary Agent, Jenny Brown Associates
Dame Susan Margaret Bruce DBE DL
Electoral Commissioner, Scotland, Electoral Commission; Convener of Court, The University of Strathclyde; Chair, The Royal Scottish National Orchestra; Trustee, The Prince’s Foundation; Non Executive Director, SSE Plc.
Elise Cartmell
Chief Scientist, Scottish Water.
James Peter Chalmers
Regius Professor of Law, University of Glasgow
Hermione Cockburn
Scientific Director, Dynamic Earth
Mark Cousins
Filmmaker, writer, historian and curator.
Victoria Haigh Cowling
Principal Investigator, School of Life Sciences, University of Dundee; Deputy Director of Centre for Gene Regulation and Expression, University of Dundee.
Shireen Anne Davies
Professor of Integrative Cell Signalling, University of Glasgow.
Lorna Dawson CBE
Principal Scientific Officer, Head of Soil Forensic Science Group, The James Hutton Institute and SEFARI Advisor
Iain Wilson Docherty
Professor of Public Policy and Governance, University of Glasgow.
Jane Duckett FBA
Edward Caird Chair of Politics and Director of the Scottish Centre for China Research, University of Glasgow
David Robert Fitzpatrick
Professor and Group Leader, MRC Human Genetics Unit, University of Edinburgh.
Elizabeth Grant
Assistant Principal, Professor of Global Health and Development and Director of the Global Health Academy, University of Edinburgh.
Thomas William Greggs
Marischal Professor of Divinity and Head of Divinity, University of Aberdeen.
Robert Hugh Hadfield
Professor of Photonics, University of Glasgow.
James Harris
Professor of the History of Philosophy, University of St Andrews; Head of Philosophy, University of St Andrews.
Peter Michael Hollingsworth
Director of Science, Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh.
Christopher Johnson
Professor of Computing Science and Head of Computing Science, University of Glasgow.
Mirella Lapata
Personal Chair in Natural Language Processing, University of Edinburgh.
Stephen Lawrie
Head of Psychiatry & Professor of Psychiatry and Neuroimaging, University of Edinburgh.
Karl Leydecker
Vice-Principal Learning and Teaching, University of Dundee.
[moving to University of Aberdeen 1 March as Senior Vice-Principal]
Paul Little
Principal and Chief Executive Officer, City of Glasgow College.
Philip Long
Director, V&A Dundee.
John McAslan CBE
Executive Chairman, John McAslan and Partners; Chairman, Dunoon Burgh Hall Trust.
Gail McConnell
Professor of Biophotonics, University of Strathclyde.
Eric John Logan McInnes
Professor of Inorganic Chemistry, University of Manchester.
Sally Louise Mapstone
Principal and Vice Chancellor, University of St Andrews.
John Frederick Henry Nicholls
Chief Commercial Officer, M Squared Lasers Ltd.
Peter William Nienow
Professor of Glaciology, University of Edinburgh.
Dónal O'Carroll
Professor of Stem Cell Biology, University of Edinburgh.
Silvia Paracchini
Royal Society University Research Fellow, University of St Andrews.
David Jonathan Price
Professor of Developmental Neurobiology, University of Edinburgh.
Stephen Redpath
Professor of Conservation Science, University of Aberdeen
Sarah Reece
Chair of Evolutionary Parasitology, University of Edinburgh.
Graeme Thomas Reid
Professor of Science and Research Policy, University College London
Stuart Reid
Professor of Biomedical Engineering, University of Strathclyde.
Richard Rose FBA
Professor and Director, Centre for the Study of Public Policy, University of Strathclyde; Visiting Professor, Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin; Visiting Fellow, European University Institute Florence
Kathryn (Kate) Rudy
Professor of Art History, University of St Andrews.
Elizabeth Jane Ryder OBE
Chair, Historic Environment Scotland.
Manuel Salmeron-Sanchez
Chair of Biomedical Engineering and Head of Division of Biomedical Engineering, University of Glasgow.
Philippa Tansy Kemp Saunders
Professor of Reproductive Steroids, University of Edinburgh; Registrar, Academy of Medical Sciences.
Alexandra Shepard
Professor of Gender History, University of Glasgow.
Jan Skakle
Professor of Physics, University of Aberdeen.
Kenneth Gavin Neil Sutherland
President, Canon Medical Research Europe Ltd.
Camilla Toulmin
Senior Associate, International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED); Professor, Lancaster University; Visiting Research Associate, Environmental Change Institute, University of Oxford
Deepak Gulabrai Uttamchandani
Professor of Microsystems Engineering, University of Strathclyde.
Stephen John Wigmore
Professor of Transplantation Surgery and Honorary Consultant Surgeon, University of Edinburgh.
Lena Cooper Wilson CBE
Non Executive Director, The Royal Bank of Scotland Group plc; Non Executive Director, Scottish Power Renewables; Non Executive Director, Intertek plc; Visiting Professor, Strathclyde Business School, University of Strathclyde.
The Right Honourable James Wolffe QC
Lord Advocate
