Universities UK chief is new Royal Society of Biology president
10 May 2017
Universities UK head Julia Goodfellow has been appointed the new president of the Royal Society of Biology.
She will succeed the current incumbent professor Jean Thomas, who relinquishes the role in May next year.
The third of the RSB’s all-female heads, Goodfellow was the first woman both to head a UK research council – as chief executive of the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) – and to assume the presidency of Universities UK.
After completing her PhD in biophysics at the Open University research unit, Professor Goodfellow became professor of biomolecular science at Birkbeck College and later vice-master and head of the School of Crystallography.
Julia’s distinction, vision and experience will be a guiding light as we build on our first ten years
Dr Mark Downs, chief executive, Royal Society of Biology
She also chaired the British Science Association from 2009 until 2014, and was appointed to the Science and Technology Facilities Council and the Prime Minister’s Council for Science and Technology in 2011. Additionally, she is the present vice chancellor of Kent university.
Commenting on the appointment, RSB chief executive Mark Downs said: “I am delighted to announce that the succession plan for the society will bring Professor Goodfellow to the next presidency and I look forward to working with her.
“The next presidency will take the society through the milestone of our first decade and Julia’s distinction, vision and experience will be a guiding light as we build on our first ten years and look to the next.”
The new president paid tribute to her predecessor whose time in office saw the award of a Royal title for the society and a period of major membership growth.
“I look forward to working with the RSB to help strengthen the bioscience community they have successfully fostered, and ensure we are able to represent their views and priorities in the coming months and years,” she said.
