Former Eurythmics singer Annie Lennox is one of 80 new fellows to have been elected to join Scotland’s national academy of science and letters.
The Royal Society of Edinburgh (RSE) awards a fellowship to people from the arts, business, public service, civil society and academia whom the organisation’s judges deem to have made outstanding achievements for social progress and development. This year’s group will be joining the RSE’s current fellowship of about 1,700 high-flyers who are recognised as being some of the greatest thinkers, researchers and practitioners working in or with Scotland today.
In addition to toping the charts with the Eurythmics, Lennox also had a distinguished, award-winning, solo career. She is also chancellor of Glasgow Caledonian University, the founder of The Circle: a non-profit organisation of women working together to achieve equality for women and girls, and was formerly special envoy for the Scottish Parliament.
Speaking about being nominated as a fellow of RSE, Lennox said she is “truly humbled and honoured”. She said: “Apart from a lifetime of music-making, my ardent passion lies with the most crucial issues facing all of humanity at this precarious point in time, namely the sustainability of our precious planet and the actual implementation of human rights and justice, most especially regarding the lives of women and girls in all four corners of the globe. My hope has always been to create a positive influence and contribution towards lasting transformative change.”
Other high profile figures honoured as fellows include Professor Mark Logan, co-Founder of Ipso-Facto where he is an investment and start-up adviser. He is also a professor of computing science at the University of Glasgow, and the former chief operating officer of flight booking site, Skyscanner.
With 25 years of senior management experience and award-winning business leadership, he is currently leads the Scottish Government’s development programme for Scotland’s high-tech sector.
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Prof Logan said: “I am honoured to have been elected as a Fellow of the RSE, joining the company of such remarkable people. I look forward to working with fellows across a range of sectors, to help establish Scotland as an entrepreneurship global centre of excellence.”
Theresa Shearer, chief executive of Enable Group, which provides community projects, campaigns and education for people with learning disabilities, has also been honoured. She has previously led a national campaign to deliver the Living Wage to social care employees, is a commissioner on the UK Law Family Commission on Civil Society and is the vice president of Inclusion Europe, advocating to end segregation and institutionalisation of disabled people.
She said: “Working with colleagues in the RSE, I look forward to continuing to influence public policy as we seek to move forward from the pandemic, and lay the foundations for a more resilient, inclusive, and equitable society both in Scotland and globally. We will promote collaboration between public, private and third sectors, underpinned by data and evidence, to empower and enable positive change in Scotland.”
Professor Sir John Ball, president of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, said each individual elected in this year’s cohort has shown “exceptional levels of expertise and insight in their chosen field”. He added: “We look forward to working with our diverse fellowship who provide a crucial link between the world of academic research and practice with government, business and civil society”.
