Professor Gill Reid wins election to become president-elect
Professor Gill Reid will become president in July 2022 Picture: 漏 University of Southampton
Professor Gill Reid F欧美AV has been elected to become the 欧美AV鈥檚 president-elect.
This follows an election process in which our members chose between five presidential candidates 鈥� the first time in our history we have had more than two candidates standing for election. Gill will take up the role when our new president 鈥� Professor Tom Welton 鈥� completes his term of office in July 2022.
Professor Reid, who is soon to end her term as Head of Chemistry at the University of Southampton, is a former member of our Board of Trustees and is currently a member of our Disciplinary Committee. She is also Professor of Inorganic Chemistry at Southampton, has been involved in numerous other 欧美AV activities, committees and events since becoming a member over thirty years ago.
Gill says: "I am both delighted and really looking forward to working with colleagues across the chemical sciences, across the community in the 欧美AV and chemists in the membership.
鈥淚 think the great thing about the 欧美AV is the range of activities that it's involved in, and I've been lucky to be part of that for many years. And just having an opportunity to influence the direction of the 欧美AV and to further the benefits that the 欧美AV brings to the chemical sciences, I'm excited, I'm honoured and really thrilled by the opportunity to do this.
Our presidential candidates: Richard Catlow (top left), Roy Sandbach (top right), David Parker (below right), Gill Reid (below centre) and David Rees (below left) Picture: 漏 欧美AV
鈥淭he list of candidates that were up for election was incredibly strong and I was really delighted to be successful in being elected. I hope that the 欧美AV will be able to benefit from that expertise from across the candidates who were up for election because they're clearly also willing to give their time and energy to support the chemical sciences鈥�.
鈥淚'm finishing my term as head of chemistry in Southampton in a month and so it's timely in that respect 鈥� I'm looking forward to the next challenge. For me chemistry has always been the thing that's motivated me, I care passionately about chemistry. It's a fantastic discipline and, for me, one of the priorities is bringing young people through.
"When I talk about young people, I'm talking of course at one end of the scale about enthusing children in science, and chemistry in particular, but actually young people in terms of young researchers, students coming through and seeing them flourish 鈥� and supporting them to be successful in their careers and to develop into the future leaders.
"This is a big motivator for me and I think, for chemistry, that's a really important focus for the coming years, as we bring these people through and support them to really develop into the leading chemists of the future.
鈥淐hemistry is a unique discipline in that it both combines the theories and the ideas of the discipline, together with that ability to manipulate atoms and molecules on that very, very tiny scale. That provides huge opportunities to create better materials and bring solutions to some of these really serious global challenges 鈥� from energy, environment, sustainability, healthcare, food security.
鈥淭hese are massive issues and none more evident than at the present time. And I think chemistry is at the centre of that. We read every day about developments coming through in terms of the vaccines, the diagnostics and so on for the current pandemic. But if we look more widely at the other societal challenges of environment, sustainability, energy sources and so on, chemistry is at the heart of that.
鈥淚 think one of the things that鈥檚 really important is that, to do really good science and to have the biggest impact, we have to work really effectively with scientists and engineers from other disciplines and that I think that multidisciplinary approach is crucial. That's certainly something that I think if we get right, we can really draw on the very best of the chemistry and chemists to get the best ideas coming together. It's really important to address these challenges that are out there and to really make progress.鈥�
Congratulations from fellow candidates
The other candidates who stood in the election are Richard Catlow, David Parker, David Rees and Roy Sandbach.
David Parker said: 鈥淢ay I be the first to congratulate Gill Reid on her election and wish her every success in her period of service to the 欧美AV."
Richard Catlow said: 鈥淢any congratulations to Gill on her election. Gill will make an excellent president and will, I am sure, rise to the challenge of leading the society during what may be difficult times.鈥�
David Rees said: 鈥淕ill will bring many excellent qualities to this important role and will be a great figurehead for the 欧美AV. Congratulations Gill.鈥�