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Loughborough appoints Government Chief Scientific Adviser as Honorary Distinguished Professor

University

Professor Dame Angela McLean DBE FRS, the Government Chief Scientific Adviser (GCSA), has been appointed as an Honorary Distinguished Professor at Loughborough University.

In her role as GCSA she is responsible for providing scientific advice to the Prime Minister and members of cabinet, advising the government on aspects of policy on science and technology, and ensuring and improving the quality and use of scientific evidence and advice in government.  

Before joining government, Dame Angela was a Professor of Mathematical Biology in the Department of Zoology at Oxford University and a Fellow of All Souls College. Her research interests lie in the use of mathematical models to aid understanding of the evolution and spread of infectious agents. 

In 2009 Dame Angela was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society. She has been awarded the Gabor Medal in 2011 and the Weldon Memorial Prize in 2018. She received her damehood in the 2018 Queen’s Birthday Honours List. 

Before taking up the GCSA role she was the Chief Scientific Adviser for the Ministry of Defence. 

Speaking about her appointment at Loughborough, Dame Angela said: “I am delighted to be appointed as an Honorary Distinguished Professor at Loughborough University. The University has a rich research culture and I am looking forward to visiting to meet with students and academics and hear more about the work they are doing on some of the great challenges of our time.” 

The University’s Vice-Chancellor, Professor Nick Jennings added: “It is a great privilege to be able to appoint Dame Angela as an Honorary Distinguished Professor. We have worked together on a variety of government initiatives, and I look forward to hosting her on our campus where she will talk to our students and staff and share her expertise with us.” 

Notes for editors

Press release reference number: PR 24/105

Loughborough is one of the country’s leading universities, with an international reputation for research that matters, excellence in teaching, strong links with industry, and unrivalled achievement in sport and its underpinning academic disciplines.

It has been awarded five stars in the independent QS Stars university rating scheme, named the best university in the world for sports-related subjects in the 2024 QS World University Rankings – the eighth year running – and University of the Year for Sport by The Times and Sunday Times University Guide 2022.

Loughborough is ranked 6th in The UK Complete University Guide 2025, 10th in the Guardian University League Table 2024 and 10th in the Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2024.

Loughborough is consistently ranked in the top twenty of UK universities in the Times Higher Education’s ‘table of tables’, and in the Research Excellence Framework (REF) 2021 over 90% of its research was rated as ‘world-leading’ or ‘internationally-excellent’. In recognition of its contribution to the sector, Loughborough has been awarded seven Queen's Anniversary Prizes.

The Loughborough University London campus is based on the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park and offers postgraduate and executive-level education, as well as research and enterprise opportunities. It is home to influential thought leaders, pioneering researchers and creative innovators who provide students with the highest quality of teaching and the very latest in modern thinking.