Academic leaders help York to mark its 50th year
Posted on 4 July 2012
During its first half-century, the University has gained a worldwide reputation for excellence in both research and teaching, and the new appointments across a range of disciplines will enhance it still further.
The Vice-Chancellor Professor Brian Cantor said: “To mark our 50th anniversary we wanted to attract a group of outstanding individuals to complement the intellectual leadership and research expertise of our academic staff. It is with great pleasure that I welcome a group of people of such remarkable quality.”
The new Anniversary Professors will take up their posts from this summer to April 2013. The University has also appointed three Anniversary Readers.
The Anniversary Chairs are:
Andrei Andreyev (Physics)
Andrei Andreyev’s pioneering research at the University of the West of Scotland in experimental nuclear physics has focused on nuclear fission and laser-assisted nuclear and atomic spectroscopy. His research into nuclear fission of exotic nuclei is essential for developing better fission models, part of the drive to make safety standards on nuclear reactors even more stringent.
Martin Bees (Mathematics)
Martin Bees is a mathematician whose interests include mathematical biology, fluid dynamics and pattern formation. Currently at the University of Glasgow, he constructed the first rational models of slug-nematode dynamics and the numerical exploration of complex mass structured systems. He is also interested in bacterial swarming, and novel mechanisms for the generation and dynamics of plankton patches.
Michael Brockhurst (Biology)
Michael Brockhurst is a biologist who combines ecological and evolutionary approaches to the understanding of infectious disease. At the University of Liverpool, he was part of a team which provided the first experimental evidence that evolution is driven most powerfully by interactions between species, rather than adaptation to the environment.
Dunstan Brown (Language and Linguistic Science)
Dunstan Brown’s research interests include morphology, syntax interaction, computational linguistics, Oceanic language and Slavonic languages. At the University of Surrey, he has participated in the development of canonical typology, a framework for comparing constructions and categories across languages. He is recognised as a world leader in the Network Morphology framework.
Peter Cowling (Computer Science)
Peter Cowling’s research interests lie in artificial intelligence, particularly heuristics, metaheuristics, hyperheuristics and exact/heuristic hybrids. He has extensive experience in research into new modelling, optimisation and decision support technologies, using artificial intelligence and operational research techniques. These approaches have been used in real world problems involving the planning and scheduling of personnel and production.
Brian Cummings (English and Related Literature)
Brian Cummings was founding Director of the Centre for Early Modern Studies at the University of Sussex and specialises in early modern English literature, especially More, Wyatt, Shakespeare, Donne, and Milton. He also works on the history of the Reformation; the history of theology and of heresy; medieval and Renaissance philosophy; humanism, and the European Renaissance.
Mark Hodson (Environment)
Mark Hodson, is a Professor of Geochemistry and Mineralogy at the University of Reading, whose research focuses on the biogeochemistry of soils and contaminated environments including earthworm ecology, the weathering of minerals, and contaminant behaviour and remediation. He holds a Science and Technologies Facilities Council Science in Society Fellowship to champion research to schools, the media and the public.
Thomas F Krauss (Physics)
Thomas F. Krauss initiated the field of semiconductor photonic crystals in the UK and has established an international reputation. He leads the nanofabrication facility at the University of St. Andrews, including electron beam and photolithography, wet and dry etching, thin film deposition as well as a characterisation suite for active and passive microphotonic devices.
Mark Leake (Biology/Physics)
Mark Leake, Group Leader in Biophysics at the University of Oxford, is an expert on single molecule cellular biophysics. His research on live cells using a range of cutting edge techniques in combination with genetics, specialises in developing and applying novel forms of optical microscopy to investigate complex biological processes at the level of single molecules.
Sharon MacDonald (Sociology)
Sharon MacDonald, a Professor of Social Anthropology at the University of Manchester, is concerned with how cultural heritage is used and experienced and how this substantiates or challenges collective identities and memories. She is interested in the formulation of heritage policy and the workings of cultural institutions; as well as in what happens when policy meets practice.
Professor Giuseppe Longobardi (Language and Linguistic Science)
Giuseppe Longobardi is Professor of General Linguistics at the University of Trieste. His work includes research into the syntax/semantics interface, historical formal grammar, the theory of phylogenetic linguistics and the comparative syntax of the Romance, Germanic and Classical languages. He also works on the parametric comparison method and the establishment of cognitive history.
Professor Peter McGlynn (Biology)
Peter McGlynn, of the Institute of Medical Sciences at the University of Aberdeen, works on the mechanisms that underpin the ability of replisomes to duplicate DNA, including how repair systems can reload the replication machinery on to the chromosome in the event of a complete breakdown. His research also focuses on the function of molecular motors in the replication machinery.
David Moon (History)
David Moon is a Professor of Russian History at Durham University where he researches Russian and transnational environmental history and is writing a study of environmental change in the steppe region of Russia over the 18th to the 20th centuries. He is also researching connections between the steppes and the Great Plains of the USA.
Richard Nolan (York Law School)
Richard Nolan is a barrister and a member of the Faculty of Law at the University of Cambridge. His research interests include barrister trusts, particularly express trusts, and equitable property. His other areas of special interest include corporate law; commercial aspects of fiduciary duties; securities regulation and jurisprudence.
Martin Smith (Politics)
Martin Smith’s main research interests are in British Politics, Public Policy and the changing nature of the state. Previously, a Professor of Politics at the University of Sheffield, he is interested in the reform of the state, policy networks and policy making, the changing nature of central government and the Labour Party.
Catherine Wilson (Philosophy)
Catherine Wilson is Regius Professor of Moral Philosophy at the University of Aberdeen. Her research interests cover the intersection between scientific knowledge and philosophy including metaphysics, epistemology, and ethics. She is interested in metaethics and forms of moral naturalism as well as the history of philosophy, specialising in early modern philosophy up to and including Kant.
The Anniversary Readers are:
Martin Webber (Social Policy and Social Work)
Martin Webber worked in a residential home for adults with learning disabilities and as a social worker in a community mental health team with adults with mental health problems. He joined the Institute of Psychiatry at King’s College London on a Department of Health-funded Social Science Fellowship eventually becoming a lecturer in social work.
Robert Hollingworth (Music)
Robert Hollingworth is director of I Fagiolini, a vocal ensemble specialising in innovative performances of Renaissance and contemporary music. Robert Hollingworth will combine his academic activities at York, with his international performance and recording diary with I Fagiolini and will continue his various conducting engagements. The Department of Music has also appointed I Fagiolini as an ensemble-in-residence.
Paul Johnson (Sociology)
Paul Johnson is a sociologist at the University of Surrey who is interested in a the relationship between law, human rights, sexual orientation and intimacy, including the role and purpose of law in promoting and protecting particular kinds of sexuality and human relationships. His recent research has focused on the relationship between law and social control in England and Wales, Australia and Europe.
Contact details
Keep up to date
Subscribe to news feeds
