Jeremy Harbison and Gerry Mallon have been named the two new pro-chancellors at the University of Ulster. Both have been members of the university's governing council since 1994. Mr Mallon, 39, who is chief executive officer of Northern Bank, will be the youngest person to hold a pro-chancellorship. Dr Harbison holds a doctorate from Ulster and has previously practised as a clinical psychologist and held a number of posts in the Senior Civil Service. He said: "I believe some of our main challenges over the next few years include enhancing the university's contribution to the economic and social regeneration of Northern Ireland."
Eeva Leinonen is to become the vice-principal (education) of King's College London. She is replacing Phil Whitfield, who retires after 40 years at the institution. Professor Leinonen joins from University of Hertfordshire, where she is deputy vice-chancellor. Among her responsibilities there are learning and teaching, academic quality assurance and enhancement, student experience and academic portfolio development. Her research into developmental psycholinguistics focuses on the language functioning of language-impaired children, and children who are autistic.
Mary Malcolm, current vice-principal (academic development) at the University of Abertay Dundee, is to join the University of Bedfordshire, where she will take on the role of deputy vice-chancellor (academic). Before joining Abertay, Professor Malcolm spent nine years in Dubai teaching and setting up small businesses. Her early-career research focused on Old Norse literature, but her more recent interests lie in the field of higher education, particularly in the role of technology in learning and teaching. She will take up her new role at the start of the new academic year.
The Royal Society has announced the election of 44 new fellows to its ranks, including five women. The new fellows, recognised for outstanding contributions in their fields, join the likes of Sir Isaac Newton, Charles Darwin and Stephen Hawking. The new fellows, as well as ten new foreign members, are: Robert Ainsworth, visiting professor, Imperial College London; Ross Anderson, professor of security engineering, University of Cambridge; Michael Ashfold, professor of physical chemistry, University of Bristol; Michael Batty, Bartlett professor of planning, University College London; Martin Buck, professor of molecular microbiology, Imperial College London; Peter Buneman, professor of database systems, University of Edinburgh; Michel Chretien, senior scientist, Ottawa Hospital Research Institute; Jennifer Clack, professor and curator of vertebrate palaeontology, University of Cambridge; Michael Duff, Abdus Salam professor of theoretical physics, Imperial College London; Jeff Ellis, research programme leader, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, Plant Industry; Richard Ellis, scientist, theoretical physics department, Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory; James Gimzewski, professor of chemistry, University of California, Los Angeles; David Glover, Arthur Balfour professor of genetics, University of Cambridge; Christopher Goodnow, professor and head, immunology programme, Australian National University; Wendy Hall, professor of computer science, University of Southampton; Nicholas Harberd, Sibthorpian professor of plant science, University of Oxford; John Hardy, professor of neuroscience, University College London; Brian Hemmings, senior scientist, Friedrich Miescher Institute for Biomedical Research, Basel; Christine Holt, professor of developmental neuroscience, University of Cambridge; Christopher Hunter, Krebs professor of biochemistry, University of Sheffield; Graham Hutchings, professor of physical chemistry and director of the Cardiff Catalysis Institute, Cardiff University; Peter Isaacson, emeritus professor of pathology, University College London Medical School; Jonathan Keating, professor of mathematical physics, University of Bristol; Dimitris Kioussis, head of molecular immunology division, MRC National Institute for Medical Research; Stephen Larter, Canada research chair in petroleum geology, University of Calgary and J.B. Simpson chair of geology, Newcastle University; David Leigh, Forbes chair of organic chemistry, University of Edinburgh; David MacKay, professor of natural philosophy, University of Cambridge; Arthur McDonald, Gordon and Patricia Gray chair in particle astrophysics, Queen's University, Canada; Angela McLean, All Souls senior research fellow, University of Oxford; David Owen, professor in civil engineering, Swansea University; Richard Passingham, professor of cognitive neuroscience, University of Oxford; Guy Richardson, professorial fellow, University of Sussex; Wolfram Schultz, professor of neuroscience, University of Cambridge; Keith Shine, professor of physical meteorology, University of Reading; Henning Sirringhaus, Hitachi professor of electron device physics, University of Cambridge; Maurice Skolnick, professor of experimental condensed matter physics, University of Sheffield; Karen Steel, principal investigator, Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute; Malcolm Stevens, emeritus professor, University of Nottingham; Jesper Svejstrup, senior scientist, Cancer Research UK; Jonathan Tennyson, Massey professor of physics, University College London; John Todd, professor of medical genetics and director, Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation/Wellcome Trust Diabetes and Inflammation Laboratory, University of Cambridge; Burt Totaro, Lowndean professor of astronomy and geometry, University of Cambridge; John Vederas, university professor of chemistry, University of Alberta; John Wood, head of the Molecular Nociception Group, University College London. The foreign members are: J. Michael Bishop, chancellor, University of California; James Cronin, university professor emeritus, University of Chicago; John Holdren, director, Office of Science and Technology Policy, Executive Office of the President of the United States; Robert Horvitz, professor of biology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Thomas Kailath, Hitachi America professor of engineering, emeritus, Stanford University; Roger Kornberg, professor of structural biology, Stanford University; Yakov Sinai, professor, department of mathematics, Princeton University; Joseph Stiglitz, university professor, Columbia Business School; Rashid Sunyaev, director, Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics; Steven Tanksley, Liberty Hyde Bailey professor of plant breeding, professor of plant biology, Cornell University.
The founder and editor of New Literary History is stepping down after 40 years at the helm. Ralph Cohen is William R. Kenan Jr professor of English emeritus at the University of Virginia, where the publication was established. His replacement will be Rita Felski, current William R. Kenan Jr professor of English at Virginia.
Horacio Gonzalez-Velez of The Robert Gordon University has been awarded a fellowship in recognition of his interdisciplinary research into computational science. The National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts gave him a Crucible Fellowship for his work applying computers to problems in biomedical science.