Appointments

Lord Winston has been made a professor of science and society at Imperial College London. The new chair will enable him to focus on developing paths for better engagement between scientists and the public. Lord Winston is currently emeritus professor of fertility studies at Imperial. He said: "Scientists need to be much more receptive to issues which are raised by the public and which concern them. The science we do is largely owned by the public, and all members of society should feel they are a part of what we do. Finding methods to ensure that scientists communicate effectively with the public will be a key focus."

Dylan Jones has been appointed head of the School of Initial Teacher Education and Training at Trinity College Carmarthen, University of Wales. Dr Jones, who was awarded a PhD by the University of Wales in 2005 for his research into mathematics and bilingualism, has been education adviser with Trinity since last August. He was appointed lecturer in education at the University of Wales Aberystwyth in 1989, becoming director of PGCE in its newly formed School of Education and Lifelong Learning in 2003.

Norman Williams, centre lead for academic surgery in the Institute of Cell and Molecular Science at Queen Mary, University of London, has been elected to an honorary fellowship of the American Surgical Association, the highest distinction the association may confer on international surgeons. Professor Williams, one of only two practising UK surgeons to have the honour, specialises in coloproctology. His achievements include the development of a technique to replace the anal sphincter using electrically stimulated gracilis muscle. His current positions include chairman of the academic and research board of the Royal College of Surgeons and president-elect of the Society of Academic and Research Surgery.

Bangor University has appointed Ineke Mennen professor of bilingualism in its new £5 million bilingualism research centre. She has joined from Queen Margaret University in Edinburgh, where she was senior lecturer in speech and language sciences. Professor Mennen is particularly interested in whether bilingual speakers can learn the differences in pitch between their two languages. Her work is backed by a £100,000 grant from the Economic and Social Research Council. Professor Mennen, who was born in the Netherlands, is fluent in Dutch, Greek, English and German, and she now intends to learn Welsh.

John Barrow, professor of mathematical sciences at the University of Cambridge, has been appointed Gresham professor of geometry at Gresham College in London for 2008-11. The position, inaugurated in 1596, is the oldest mathematics professorship in the UK; previous holders include Isaac Barrow, Robert Hooke and Sir Roger Penrose. Professor Barrow becomes the only person since 1657 to hold Gresham chairs in two different subjects: he was Gresham professor of astronomy in 2003-07.

Stephen Robertson, one third of the long-running comedy trio Scotland The What? has been elected rector by students at the University of Aberdeen. He succeeds Robin Harper, a Green Party MSP, on 30 June. He defeated Martin Ford, an Aberdeenshire councillor and plant ecologist, and Hamish Mackay, a journalist and community worker in the elections. The Scotland The What? team met as Aberdeen students, debuting under that name at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 1969. Mr Robertson performed in Aberdeen's annual student show for five years and represented the university at squash.

Greg Lloyd has been appointed head of the School of the Built Environment at the University of Ulster. Professor Lloyd, who currently holds a planning chair at the University of Liverpool, takes up the post at the start of the next academic year. He currently serves on the Scottish Government's national planning framework advisory group, and he is ministerial independent adviser on the reform of the land-use planning system in Northern Ireland.

Sally Kinsey has been appointed chair in paediatric haematology at the Leeds Institute of Molecular Medicine. She was previously a consultant paediatric haematologist at St James's University Hospital in Leeds. Her areas of expertise include childhood leukaemias, inherited bone-marrow failure syndromes and haematological abnormalities in Down's syndrome. Professor Kinsey is a co-ordinator of clinical trials for childhood acute lymphoblastic leukaemia and chair of the Morphology Central Review Panel of all childhood leukaemias in the UK.

The Scottish Agricultural College has appointed Brian Hosie as head of veterinary services, replacing Barti Synge, who retires this summer. Mr Hosie, a veterinary graduate of the University of Edinburgh, has been with the college for almost 25 years. He has worked extensively in diagnostic laboratories in the Middle East and in New Zealand, investigating sheep diseases. He said: "Maintaining surveillance for new and emerging diseases of animals is now more important than ever before."

William Gale has been appointed chair of aviation and aerospace engineering and director of interdisciplinary research in the faculty of engineering at the University of Leeds. Professor Gale will serve as director of the cross-campus Earth, Energy and Environment Interdisciplinary Institute. A Leeds graduate in metallurgy, Professor Gale has returned to his alma mater after 15 years in the US, where he was Alumni professor at Auburn University in Alabama, and executive director of the Federal Aviation Administration's Air Transportation Centre of Excellence for Airliner Cabin Environment Research.

The Institute of Historical Research, part of the University of London's School of Advanced Study, has announced the appointment of Miles Taylor as its new director. Professor Taylor is currently professor of modern history and head of the department of history at the University of York. He is a specialist in the Victorian period. Professor Taylor replaces David Bates, who left in March. He takes up his appointment in October.

John Denham, the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills, has appointed John Coggins to the council of the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council. Professor Coggins is vice-principal for life sciences, medicine and veterinary medicine at the University of Glasgow. Mr Denham has also reappointed two council members: Quintin McKellar, who is principal of the Royal Veterinary College, and Dame Nancy Rothwell, who is deputy president and deputy vice-chancellor of the University of Manchester.