11 April 2005
University academics elected fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh
Four top academics at the University of Dundee have been elected Fellows of the Royal Society of
Edinburgh.
The four new fellows are Professors Sue Black and Doreen Cantrell from the School of Life Sciences,
Professor Allan Findlay from the Department of Geography and Professor Irwin McLean from the School
of Medicine.
Professor Sue Black is one of the world's leading experts in forensic anthropology and human
identification. She has worked with many international and governmental agencies in war crime
investigations including deployments to Sierra Leone, Kosovo and Iraq. In 2001 she was awarded an
OBE for her work in Kosovo. Sue recently spent two weeks in Phuket, Thailand helping identify the
dead in the wake of the tsunami.
Professor Doreen Cantrell is one of the worlds leading researchers studying leukaemia and lymphomas
(the cancers of the immune system), specifically the function of T lymphocytes, the white blood
cells which control the immune system. Doreen has characterised a number of the key biochemical
events that control T cell activation and has made major contributions to understanding how these
important cells in our bodies are controlled.
Professor Allan Findlay is internationally recognised for his research on international migration
and population mobility. He pioneered geographical investigation of international skill flows,
highlighting the structuring influences of transnational companies, international recruitment
agencies and global city managers in the shaping of patterns of mobility. Allan has been Professor
in the Department of Geography since 1994, taking up the post of Head of Department in 2002. He
currently serves on the Royal Society of Edinburgh Inquiry into Energy Issues in Scotland.
Professor Irwin McLean is a Wellcome Trust Senior Research Fellow in Basic Biomedical Sciences &
Professor of Human Genetics. His research interest is on understanding the molecular basis of
inherited human diseases, with a particular interest in disorders that disrupt the structure and
function of epithelial tissues. Prof McLean holds a Personal Chair in Human Genetics.
Notes to Editors
Election to Fellowship of the Society honours outstanding achievement across all academic subjects,
the professions, the arts, commerce, industry and public life. By conferring the accolade of
Fellowship on people recognised as amongst the best minds in Scotland is the beginning, not the
end, of the Society’s purpose. The collective expertise and experience of the Fellowship is the
underpinning foundation of all the other goals of the Society.
The Royal Society of Edinburgh is one of the world's oldest scientific societies, founded over 200
years ago. Election to Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh honours outstanding
achievement across all academic subjects, the professions, the arts, commerce, industry and public
life. The Society is Scotland's foremost learned society and Scotland's National Academy of
Science & Letters. Its purpose, laid down in the RSE's Royal Charter of 1783, is and remains "the
advancement of learning and useful knowledge", both by supporting research and by disseminating
knowledge to a wider public.
By Angela Durcan, Press Officer 01382 344768, out of hours: 07968298585, a.durcan@dundee.ac.uk | 
