Female professor creates history in chemistry role

The Royal Society of Chemistry has elected a female president for the first time in its 170-year history.

Professor Lesley Yellowlees, of Edinburgh University, will become the first female president of the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC), which traces its roots to 1841.

From July, Prof Yellowlees, an inorganic electrochemist, will be president-elect, working with current president Prof David Phillips, of Imperial College in London.

She will begin her two-year presidency of the RSC next summer.

Prof Yellowlees MBE, FRSC, undertook an honours degree in chemical physics at Edinburgh University, as well as a PhD in chemistry.

She said: "I am delighted to have been given the opportunity to become the next president of the Royal Society of Chemistry.

"The RSC has been in the vanguard of promoting the relevance of the chemical sciences and I plan to work with all members of the society to increase our influence and importance."

The election of Prof Yellowlees coincides with this year's International Year of Chemistry, designated by the United Nations and inspired by the 100th anniversary of Marie Curie winning the Nobel Prize in Chemistry.

Prof Yellowlees, 57, who lives in Fairmilehead, added: "In this International Year of Chemistry, during which we are celebrating the life and achievements of Marie Curie, it gives me additional pleasure to realise that I will be the first woman president of the society. I feel honoured, privileged and excited about my role."

The mother-of-two said she was most looking forward to helping the institution achieve its aims and objectives, including enthusing young people about chemistry and helping to educate the public.

"Chemistry is an exciting subject but it does need a bit of championing now and again," she said.

"It sometimes gets a bit of a bad press, so it's good to work against that."

Prof Phillips said: "Professor Yellowlees has an outstanding record of contribution to our science through her research and her teaching, as well as her activities to promote chemistry and the RSC locally, regionally, nationally and internationally.

"Her academic and scientific record, combined with her profound interest in the future of chemistry as a subject, make Lesley Yellowlees an ideal choice for president. It is a happy, and welcome, coincidence that she has been elected 100 years after a woman chemist was honoured on the world stage for her achievements."

He added: "Lesley is noted for her energy, her sense of commitment and for speaking up for science. All these qualities will be of great value to the advancement of the chemical sciences."