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His Majesty The King has approved Professor Michele Dougherty
as the new Astronomer Royal
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Professor Dougherty will be the first woman to hold this role
since its creation 350 years ago
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The previous appointment, Lord Rees, is retiring from the
role
Professor Michele Dougherty has been approved by The King to be
the new Astronomer Royal, and will be the first woman to hold
this position since the role was first created in 1675.
The role of Astronomer Royal was first created with the goal of
discovering how to determine longitude at sea when out of sight
of land, and the holder of this position was based at the Royal
Observatory in Greenwich.
Today, the role is an honorary one, awarded to a prominent
astronomer who is expected to advise the Monarch on astronomical
matters.
Professor Dougherty will hold the role alongside her current
positions as Executive Chair of the Science and Technology
Facilities Council, President-elect of the Institute of Physics
and a Professor of Space Physics at Imperial College London.
Speaking of her new appointment, Professor Michele Dougherty
said:
“I am absolutely delighted to be taking on the important role of
Astronomer Royal. As a young child I never thought I'd end up
working on planetary spacecraft missions and science, so I
can't quite believe I'm actually taking on this position. In this
role I look forward to engaging the general public in how
exciting astronomy is, and how important it and its outcomes are
to our everyday life.”
The Government Chief Scientific Adviser, Professor Dame , said of the appointment:
"Warm congratulations to Professor Michele Dougherty on her
appointment to the distinguished position of Astronomer Royal.
This is a fitting recognition of her outstanding work and
enduring commitment to the field of astronomy."
The government currently has funding in place to improve the
involvement of women in STEM, with 7,500 girls being eligible for
support as part of an £8.2m package to improve participation and
teaching of advanced maths.
In addition, the government funds the STEM Ambassadors programme
- a nationwide network of more than 28,000 volunteers, who engage
with young people to spark interest in STEM subjects, and 48% of
these volunteers are women.
ENDS
Notes to editors
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Professor Michele Dougherty CBE FRS FRAS is Professor of
Space Physics at Imperial College London. She became
President of the Institute of Physics last October, and has
also been appointed Executive Chair of the Chair of the
Science and Technology Facilities Council.
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Lord is an astrophysicist and
cosmologist. He is based at Cambridge University where he was
for many years Director of the Institute of Astronomy. He is
a cross-bench member of the UK's House of Lords, and
was President of the Royal Society for the period 2005-10. He
has also been President of the Royal Astronomical Society and
the British Science Association. He is one of the 24 holders
of the Order of Merit.
