Senior Management
Principal
Professor George Boyne
Principal & Vice-Chancellor
Professor George Boyne became Principal and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Aberdeen on 1 August 2018.
Professor Boyne led the creation of the University’s Aberdeen 2040 strategy which was launched in February 2020 to mark the 525th anniversary of the foundation of Kings College in Old Aberdeen. Aberdeen 2040, which builds directly on the university’s foundational purpose to be open to all and dedicated to the pursuit of truth in the service of others, won the Higher Education Strategic Planners Association award for University strategy of the year in 2021.
Professor Boyne is Chair of the University Senate, a member of the University Court and a member of the Board of the University’s Development Trust. His external roles include Chair of Universities and Colleges Employers Association (UCEA), Convenor of Universities Scotland Funding Policy Group, member of the Board of Opportunity North East, and member of the Aberdeen City Deal Joint Committee.
Professor Boyne has published extensively on the performance of public sector organisations and has been a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences since 2010.
Senior Vice Principal and Vice Principals
Professor Peter Edwards PhD CITP FBCS FIET FRSA
Senior Vice-Principal (Acting) /Vice-Principal Regional Engagement
Having completed an undergraduate degree in Chemistry, I then shifted my academic allegiance and completed a PhD (Leeds) which explored cooperative reasoning in distributed blackboard systems. I joined the University of Aberdeen as a postdoc in Computing Science in October 1988, before moving into an academic position as a Lecturer in 1991. I was promoted to Senior Lecturer in 2002 and Professor in 2009.
As a researcher I have been fortunate to lead a number of major interdisciplinary efforts, first as Director of the ESRC funded PolicyGrid eSocial Science Research Node (2006-2012) and later as Director of the RCUK dot.rural Digital Economy Research Hub (2009-2015). To date, I have secured over £20M in external research funding, the majority of it from UKRI (formerly RCUK) sources.
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I am currently Vice-Principal for Regional Engagement.
I have also held numerous offices at the University of Aberdeen, most notably Head of Computing Science (2002-2005), Head of Graduate School for the College of Physical Sciences (2005-2011) and Head of the School of Natural & Computing Sciences (2018-2021). In addition, I was the founding Director of the Northern Research Partnership Graduate School (involving Aberdeen, Dundee and Robert Gordon universities) between 2007 and 2009. I was a member of the University Senate from 2002 to 2014 (and again 2018- ), and a Senate Assessor to the University Court between 2007 and 2014; in addition, I served on the Operating Board of the University Court for six years (2008-2014).
Professor Nicholas Forsyth
Vice-Principal (Research)
Nick joined the University of Aberdeen in 2023 as Vice Principal (Research). Included in this role are development and implementation of coherent research strategies at School and University levels, overseeing Interdisciplinary research across the five grand challenge areas, and development and implementation of strategic approaches to enhance organisational performance at REF2028.
Nick studied at Glasgow University gaining a BSc (Hons) (Upper Second Class) Molecular Biology in before a PhD Molecular Genetics (at the CRUK Beatson Institute) under the supervision of Prof E. Ken Parkinson. After his PhD studies he performed his first postdoctoral studies at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Centre, Dallas, TX, USA under the mentorship of Prof Jerry Shay and the late, Prof Woody Wright. He then moved back to the UK and joined the Roslin Institute, Edinburgh completing his training under the mentorship of the late Dr Jim McWhir.
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In 2006 Nick joined Keele University as a Lecturer in Stem Cell Biology before being awarded his Chair in 2015. In 2016, as Professor of Stem Cell Biology he was appointed as Director of the Research Institute for Science and Technology in Medicine (ISTM). Nick was appointed as Dean of Research in the Faculty of Medicine in 2019. Additional roles included Senate, Council, and University Research Committee membership alongside leading high achieving Units of Assessment in both REF2014 and REF2021.
Professor Jo-Anne Murray
Vice-Principal (Education)
Professor Jo-Anne Murray joined the University of Aberdeen as Vice-Principal Education in February 2024. Jo-Anne is responsible for all aspects of education and the student experience. Prior to joining Aberdeen, Jo-Anne was Pro-Vice Chancellor, Digital Transformation at the University of Leeds where she was responsible for leading the overall digital transformation strategy.
Prior to joining Leeds, Jo-Anne was a Managing Director at Higher Ed Partners (HEP) where she worked with senior executive-level colleagues within Universities across the UK to define and deliver strategic vision for digital transformation in education.
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Jo-Anne was also Assistant Vice Principal, Digital Education, at the University of Glasgow and Deputy Dean of Graduate Studies. Prior to that, she held senior roles at the University of Edinburgh leading learning technology teams, online learning and postgraduate taught programmes.
Jo-Anne is Professor of Educational Innovation and a Principal Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. She has led the development of many novel approaches to learning, teaching and assessment, including virtual worlds, online distance learning, massive open online courses, mobile apps and the use of robots in education. Jo-Anne has also led and participated in a range of research activities in education and the biological sciences and has published over 130 peer reviewed articles.
She is an internationally renowned animal nutritionist, specialising in Equine Nutrition. She is the first and only Animal Nutritionist to be awarded Fellowship of the Association for Nutrition. Jo-Anne set up the first and only online Masters in Animal Nutrition at the University of Glasgow. Her research is aimed at improving gut health in equids, including investigating the effect of diet on the gastrointestinal tract and on equine behaviour. Her combined academic and practical experience has led to her excellent reputation as a world-leading equine nutritionist.
Professor Siladitya Bhattacharya MD, FRCOG
Vice-Principal (Global Engagement)
Qualifications
- MD Obstetrics and GYnaecology
1997 – University of Aberdeen - MRCOG Obstetrics and GYnaecology
1991 – Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists - FRCOG Obstetrics and GYnaecology
2006 – Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists - Subspecialty Accreditation Reproductive Medicine
1999 – Royal College of Obstetricians & Gynaecologists
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External Memberships
- Member, Medical Schools Council (2018- )
- Non-executive member NHS Grampian Health Board (2019-)
- NHS Research Scotland Clinical Research Champion for Women’s Health and Childbearing Scotland 2015-18)
- Chair, Reproductive Medicine Clinical Studies Group (RCOG), the National Reproductive Health Research Network UK (2008-2014)
- Specialty Lead for Reproductive Health and Childbirth (Scotland) (2009-14)
- Member, Health Services and Population Health Research Committee, Chief Scientist Office Scotland (2006-12)
- Member, Panel for Chief Scientist Office Scotland Clinical Academic Fellowships (2013-18)
- Member, College of Experts, Medical Research Council (2006-09)
- Clinical Adviser to Scottish Medicines Consortium (2014- )
- Member Core Outcome Measures for Infertility Trials (COMMIT) working group when?
- Chair International Network for research in Reproductive Medicine (INREM) (2013-)
- Chair (2015-16) International Federation of Obstetrics and Gynaecology (FIGO) Reproductive Medicine Committee
- Co-Chair (2009 – 15) International Federation of Obstetrics and Gynaecology (FIGO) Reproductive Medicine Committee
- Member Standards and Practice Committee for the International Federation of Fertility Societies (IFFS) (2007-)
- Member European IVF Monitoring Committee Board (European Society for Human Reproduction and Embryology) (ESHRE) (2007 – 2013)
- Quality Control (Auditor) for FIVNAT (Swiss Society for Reproductive Medicine) (2010 – 12)
JOURNAL EDITORSHIPS
- Editor-in-Chief Human Reproduction Open (2017-)
- Editor: Cochrane Collaboration Gynaecology and Fertility (2004 -)
- Scientific Editor: BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology (2003-5)
- Editor: The Obstetrician and Gynaecologist (2003-5)
- Associate Editor Human Reproduction Update (2011 – 2015)
Academic Editor PLOS ONE (2014 – 16) - Editorial Board Elsevier IFFS Updates in Infertility Treatment Resource Centre (2013 -)
- International Adviser/Reviewer Journal of Fertility Science and Research (Indian Fertility Society) (2014 -)
Prizes and Awards
- MRCOG Prize medal, Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists 1991
- European Society of Reproduction and Embryology Established Clinician Award 2000
- Wellcome Trust Research Leave Award 2002-7
- The Obstetrical & Gynaecological Society of Malaysia & Royal College of Obstetricians & Gynaecologists (RCOG-OGSM) Travelling Fellowship 2015
- Seelye Travelling Fellowship, University of Auckland Foundation 2018