Chairs

University of Bristol

The university has appointed the following: Mumtaz Virji, MRC research fellow at the University of Reading, to the chair in pathology and microbiology; Julian Dowdeswell, professor of glaciology and director for the centre for glaciology at the University of Wales, Aberystwyth, to the chair in physical geography; Andrew Whitelaw, director of neonatal medicine at Aker Hospital Oslo and professor of paediatrics at the University of Oslo, to the chair in neonatal medicine.

University of Edinburgh

Honorary professorships have been awarded to: John Clark, project leader at the Animal Breeding Organisation, now part of the Roslin Institute; Howard Cooke, researcher in the human genetics unit; David Milne, vice-president of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, fellow of the Institute of Electrical Engineers; Roger Spooner, programme manager and panel member of the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council; Alan Wright, honorary consultant geneticist at the Western General Hospitals NHS Trust.

Personal chairs have been awarded to: David Bloor, reader and director of the social science studies unit; John Brockington, Sanskrit; Euan Clarkson, palaeontology; Dougal Drysdale, fire safety engineering; Sabine Flitsch, protein chemistry; Peter Furley, biogeography; John Govan, microbial pathogenicity; Peter Hayes, hepatology; John Hopkins, immunology; Richard Martin, veterinary pharmacology; David Melton, somatic cell genetics; John Peacock, cosmology; Ian Ralston, prehistoric European archaeology; Don Samnella, computer science; Roy Thompson, environmental geophysics; Nick Turner, biological chemistry; John Underhill, seismic and sequence stratigraphy; Stephen Walker, accounting history; Robert Will, clinical neurology.

Visiting professorship at the management school; Alec Trotman, president and chief executive of the Ford Motor company.