Royal Society honours Edinburgh academics
The Royal Society of Edinburgh has made 19 University of Edinburgh academics fellows of the prestigious organisation.
The new fellows will join the Royal Society of Edinburgh’s (RSE) current roll of around 1,600 leading thinkers and practitioners from Scotland and beyond, whose work has a significant impact on the nation.
Positive impact
The 2021 cohort includes many academics who the RSE deemed to have made a positive impact during the global Covid-19 pandemic – either as a result of their academic research, through their contribution to arts or for the role they have played in communicating complex information with the public.
Those elected to the Fellowship undergo a rigorous assessment of their achievements, professional standing and the contribution they and their work make to wider society.
The list includes many leading academics including Professor Peter Mathieson, the University’s Principal and Vice Chancellor, Professor Devi Sridhar, Chair of Global Public Health and Professor Lesley McAra, Director of the Edinburgh Futures Institute.
I would like most heartily to congratulate all of our newly elected RSE Fellows. Fellowship is a mark of exceptional personal achievement. The extraordinary diversity of expertise of our new fellows nicely reflects the broad contribution that the University makes to Scotland and beyond. I am certain that the new fellows will continue to make sterling contributions across the board, strengthening the RSE’s capacity to advance excellence across all areas. Well done indeed.
It is a great honour to have been elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. The Society has a long and esteemed history, but I’m particularly supportive of their recent work in raising the profile of women scientists. Scientists have played a vital role in tackling the Covid-19 pandemic and it is scientific advances which will ultimately provide the path out of the pandemic.
As Scotland’s national academy we recognise excellence across a diverse range of expertise and experience, and its effect on Scottish society. This impact is particularly clear this year in the latest cohort of new Fellows which includes scientists who are pioneering the way we approach the coronavirus; those from the arts who have provided the rich cultural experience we have all been missing, and some who have demonstrated strong leadership in guiding their organisations and communities through this extraordinary time. Through uniting these great minds from different walks of life, we can discover creative solutions to some of the most complex issues that Scotland faces. A warm welcome is extended to all of our new Fellows.
Elected Fellows
The full list of the academics announced as RSE Fellows is as follows:
Professor Helen Bond – Chair of Christian Origins and Head of the School of Divinity
Professor Holly Branigan – Professor of Psychology of Language and Cognition
Professor Michael Eddleston – Professor of Clinical Toxicology
Professor Andrew Horne – University of Edinburgh, Professor of Gynaecology and Reproductive Sciences
Professor Alison Hulme – Professor of Synthesis and Chemical Biology
Professor Alvin Jackson HonMRIA – Richard Lodge Professor of History
Professor Aggelos Kiayias – Chair in Cyber Security and Privacy
Professor Lesley McAra CBE – Chair of Penology, Assistant Principal Community Relations, Director of the Edinburgh Futures Institute
Professor Nicola McEwen – Professor of Territorial Politics and Co-Director, Centre on Constitutional Change
Professor Andrew McIntosh – Professor of Biological Psychiatry and Head of Division of Psychiatry
Professor Ross McLure – University of Edinburgh, Professor of Extragalactic Astrophysics
Professor Peter Mathieson FMedSci – Principal, University of Edinburgh
Professor Richard Mellanby – Professor of Comparative Medicine
Professor Alexander Murphy – Chair of Nuclear and Particle Astrophysics
Professor E. Elizabeth Patton – MRC Human Genetics Unit, Professor, Personal Chair of Chemical Genetics, MRC Investigator
Professor Eleanor Riley FMedSci – Professor of Immunology and Infectious Disease
Professor Devi Sridhar – University of Edinburgh, Chair in Global Public Health and Director, Global Health Governance Programme
Professor Christopher Williams – University of Edinburgh, Chair of Machine Learning
Professor James F Wilson – University of Edinburgh, Personal Chair in Human Genetics