Professor Jocelyn Bell Burnell DBE becomes President

The Institute of Physics

1 October 2008

Prof Jocelyn Bell Burnell DBE

Today, Wednesday, 1 October, Professor Jocelyn Bell Burnell begins her two year term as President of the Institute of Physics (IOP).

Jocelyn is a visiting professor at the University of Oxford and a Professorial Fellow at Mansfield College, Oxford. She has filled a wide range of teaching, research and managerial roles in her career. She was Dean of Science at the University of Bath, Professor of Physics at the Open University, and has also worked at Princeton University, USA, at the University of Southampton, at University College London and at the Royal Observatory in Edinburgh.

Jocelyn’s academic career started with a physics degree from Glasgow University, followed by a PhD from the University of Cambridge in Radio Astronomy. It was during her time at Cambridge that she was involved in the discovery of pulsars, opening up a new branch of astrophysics – work which was recognised by the award of a Nobel Prize to her supervisor. For many years subsequently she worked part-time while raising a family, and followed her husband around the country as he moved jobs.

One of the Institute’s tenets – public appreciation and understanding of science – has always been important to Jocelyn, as has her wish to encourage more women to consider a career in science. Her first appointment to a professorship doubled the number of female professors of physics in the UK, and she becomes the first female President of the Institute.

She has received many honours for her scientific research and for engaging the public. She is a Fellow of the Royal Society and a Foreign Member of the US National Academy of Sciences; she was made a CBE in 1999 and a Dame in 2007.

Dr. Robert Kirby-Harris, chief executive of the Institute of Physics, said, “We are delighted to have Jocelyn as our new President. Her wealth of experience and her passion for communicating science will, I am sure, keep us on course for a very successful two years.”

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