Durham University expert elected as Vice-President of Science

Professor Tom McLeish, Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Research), has been elected as Vice-President of Science by the IOP, and will serve on their council for a four-year period from 1 October 2012.

Professor McLeish holds a joint chair in Durham University’s physics and chemistry departments and leads on the Microscale Polymer Processing project.

Prior to joining Durham, he was chair in polymer physics at the University of Leeds and a senior research fellow of the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council.  He was also director of a consortium of polymer scientists from four universities, UK Polymer IRC, and a director of the White Rose Doctoral Training Centre in Biomolecules and Cells at Leeds.

Professor McLeish co-authored Values in Higher Education and is involvedin science communication throughschools lectures, radio and television,discussing issues ranging fromthe physics of slime to faith and science.

A fellow of the IOP, the Royal Society of Chemistry, the American Physical Society and the Royal Society, he has won several awards for his work on the molecular rheology of polymers. Last year he was awarded the "Founders Prize" of the IoP Polymer Physics group.

As Vice-President of Science, he will develop the IOP’s policy on physics in higher education and will promote the role of physics in contemporary society.

Professor McLeish said: "As a fellow of the Institute of Physics and Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Research at Durham, which has a worldwide reputation for the strength of its physics department, I am absolutely delighted to be elected to this role.

"I look forward to serving on the IOP’s Council and playing my part as physics becomes an increasingly popular and resurgent area of scientific study and research."