New IOP Council members announced at 2020 AGM

The IOP annual general meeting (AGM) was held on Tuesday 8 September, where the results of a members’ ballot for the election of three new IOP Council members were announced.

Due to COVID-19 restrictions, the AGM was held virtually via video conferencing for the first time.

The successful new trustees announced were Dr John Bagshaw (Vice-President for Business); Dr Lisa Jardine-Wright (Vice-President for Education) and Professor Claudia Eberlein (Member of Council). 

They will all serve a four-year term on the IOP Council from 1 October 2020 to 30 September 2024.

Dr Carol Davenport (Vice-President for Education); Professor Becky Parker MBE (Member of Council); Professor Jim Al-Khalili OBE (Co-opted Member of Council) and Dr James McKenzie (Vice-President for Business) will step down from Council on 30 September.

Dr James McKenzie will continue as Chair of the IOP’s Audit & Risk Committee.

Professor Brian Fulton, Honorary Secretary, commented on the new appointments and the retiring trustees: “I would like to extend a warm welcome to our new Council members and share my deepest thanks to our outgoing Council members for their commitment, hard work and all the contributions they have made to the IOP throughout their term.

“I am very much looking forward to working with our new Council members to deliver the IOP’s five-year strategy for the benefit of physics and the physics community.”

The formal AGM was preceded by an ‘in conversation’ session featuring two of IOP’s 2020 award winners, past President Professor Dame Julia Higgins, 2020 winner of the Sam Edwards Medal and Prize, and Bethan Cornell, 2020 winner of the Jocelyn Bell Burnell Medal and Prize. 

They talked about their work, why they chose physics, and the changes they have seen and would like to see in the world of physics. 

Full details of all the winners of the 2020 IOP Awards will be announced in October.

The AGM also approved the resolutions that from 1 January 2021 membership subscription fees should be frozen for one year and also that PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP should be re-appointed as the auditor of the IOP.