Annual Review 22 May 2013 - 14 May 2014
Mission
“
To celebrate, recognise, preserve, protect and encourage excellence in all of the scholarly disciplines, and in the professions, industry and commerce, the arts and public service;
To promote the advancement of learning and scholarship and the dissemination and application of the results of academic enquiry and research;
To act as a source of independent and expert scholarly advice and comment on matters affecting the wellbeing of Wales and its people and to advance public discussion and interaction on matters of national and international importance.
“
Cover images (clockwise from bottom right): Huw Edwards; Fellows at the Annual General Meeting 14 May 2014; UNESCO Wales Colloquium programmes; Audience at Wales, the Unitted and Europe event; Dr Peter Douglas.
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President’s Foreword It is a particular privilege to have been elected President of the Learned Society of Wales and a real challenge to succeed Sir John Cadogan who achieved so much as the first President. Like me, the Society’s other Officers, its Council members, its broader Fellowship, and its staff are deeply appreciative of, and congratulate Sir John on, his contribution to the development of the Society as the first and only pan-Wales independent national scholarly academy. In his Address to the Fellows at the Annual General Meeting held on 14 May 2014, Sir John said that he believed that the Society had achieved much more than he had thought possible at the time of its launch in May 2010. Indeed, as I look at past achievements and the range of activity recorded in this and in previous Annual Reviews, it is striking how much has been accomplished within a short space of time. During 2013/14, in particular: we finalised our Strategy and Plan for Sustainable Development; we continued to:
develop our impressive and exciting programme of lectures and other events;
engage in public policy debate, for example, in the areas of the Welsh Government’s policy on higher education and Welsh and UK Government research funding policy, as well as in matters relating to the cultural heritage of Wales; and
build relationships with key stakeholders in Welsh academia, the Welsh Government and Civil Service and beyond;
the Society elected a further fortytwo Fellows, so that we now have a distinguished Fellowship of more than 350; and His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales consented to be Royal Patron of the Society, which was a significant step for us and provides momentum to our ambition to obtain a Royal Charter.
In these and other ways, the Society has continued to add value to the voice of Wales nationally and internationally and has begun to consolidate its position in Welsh academic and public life. Looking to the future, I am conscious of the obligations stemming from my new role as President. As my old school’s motto put it ‘Ym mhob braint y mae dyletswydd’ – in every privilege there is a duty. Mine is to work to build upon the foundations established by my predecessor and his small team of dedicated Officers and staff and to help deliver the ambitious and wide-ranging Strategy and Plan approved by the Council in January 2014. The challenge now facing the Society is to prioritise its ambitions, and to operationalise and deliver the Plan in a way that ensures a sustainable future. Crucial to that will be the collective effort of the Officers and the Council with the involvement and support of Fellows. Wales needs and deserves a body capable of offering informed advice on the key issues facing the nation. The Society will continue actively to seek out opportunities to comment on important issues of the day – for example, the Higher Education Bill and the Diamond Review of Higher Education Funding. This approach should consolidate the reputation and role of the Society as a body whose advice should be sought and increasingly valued. And, of course, by projecting its own voice, the Society is also projecting that of Wales. The Society’s strength lies in its Fellowship. Key issues in relation to the composition of the Fellowship are excellence, standards and merit but, building on the good start made by the Report of the Gender Balance Working Group that we commissioned and published during the year, we need to address the current gender imbalance by doing more to recognise and secure the nomination of talented women. Additionally, it is the Learned Society of Wales, so increasing our footprint across the nation is also a priority, both in terms of the composition of the Fellowship and in terms of activities and events.
Fellowship is an honour in itself, a recognition of achievement and excellence. But it will be important for the Society to be able to demonstrate its relevance to its Fellows, not just in terms of the prestige of conferred by membership but also in terms of activities adding value and by involving them in, and harnessing their capabilities with respect to, particular issues and initiatives. Working closer with Fellows and involving them more will be facilitated by the recent appointment of Liaison Officers from amongst those Fellows based at the Universities in Wales. The Society shares the same interest as the Higher Education sector in financial sustainability. This remains a basic requirement for us and requires continued commitment by the Council and Fellows. But achieving that goes hand in hand with delivering all the other aspects to which I have referred above. Success will be contagious.
Sir Emyr Jones Parry GCMG FInstP PLSW
The organisation and support of a programme of academic lectures, symposia, conferences and other events has continued to be an important part of the Society’s work. The following lectures were held during the period between the Annual General Meetings held in May 2013 and May 2014: 24 May 2013 (the Pierhead, Cardiff Bay) and 31 May 2013 (the British Academy, London) Wales, the UK and Europe Two linked one-day conferences (Europeanising Devolution and Wales, the UK and Europe: Welsh Devolution in Perspective) co-hosted by the British Academy and the Learned Society of Wales, in association with the Leverhulme Trust, the European Commission (Cardiff Jean Monnet Centre), the University Association for Contemporary European Studies (UACES), the European Governance, Identity and Public Policy Unit (Cardiff University) and the Wales Governance Centre (Cardiff University); organised by Professor Alistair Cole FRHistS FAcSS FLSW, of Cardiff University Pictured below — David Hughes, Mona Bras and Hywel Ceri Jones speaking at the Pierhead, 24 May 2013
6 June 2013, Aberystwyth University Supporting UNESCO Effectiveness and Reform: How Can Wales Contribute? The Wales Colloquium of the UK National Commission for UNESCO; organised by the Commission in association with Aberystwyth University and the Learned Society of Wales; speakers included the First Minister, the Rt Hon Carwyn Jones AM PC, Professor John Morgan FRAI FRSA FLSW (Chairman of the UNESCO UK National Commission), Professor April McMahon FBA FRSE FLSW (ViceChancellor, Aberystwyth University), Sir John Cadogan CBE DSc FRSE FRSC MAE PLSW FRS (President of the Society), and Professor John Wyn Owen CB FRGS FHSM FRSocMed FLSW (Treasurer of the Society)
7 – 8 June 2013, the National Library of Wales, Aberystwyth Thomas Pennant’s Tours of Wales and Scotland The second of two interdisciplinary conferences on the writings of the naturalist and antiquarian Thomas Pennant (1726-1798); hosted by the University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh and Celtic Studies, sponsored by the British Academy and supported by the Learned Society of Wales
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Lectures and conferences
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19 June 2013, the National Library of Wales, Aberystwyth Wales, Israel, Palestine A Learned Society of Wales lecture by Dr Jasmine Donahaye, Aberystwyth University and Swansea University, exploring problems of Welsh colonialism, Christian Zionism, missionaries as protoethnographers, and the cultural uses of semitic imaging
25 – 26 June 2013, the University of South Wales (Pontypridd Campus) WISERD (Wales Institute of Social & Economic Research, Data and Methods) Annual Conference; supported by the Learned Society of Wales
3 July 2013, Cardiff University The inaugural presentation of the Learned Society of Wales Menelaus Medal to Sir Terry Matthews KBE FIEE FREng, for excellence in engineering and technology; the presentation was followed by a lecture by Sir Terry, attended, inter alia, by students of local schools and colleges Pictured above
3 July 2013, Cardiff University
6 September 2013, Cardiff University
Can university-business collaboration be used to maximise short-term economic growth and reduce unemployment levels in Wales?
A Tale of Two Friends: Richard Price and Thomas Bayes
A Foundation for Science and Technology discussion meeting; organised by the Foundation in association with the Learned Society of Wales and Cardiff University; chaired by the Earl of Selborne GBE FRS, Chairman of the Foundation, with speakers including Professor Colin Riordan FLSW, Sir Leszek Borysiewicz FRS FRCP FMedSci FLSW, Sir Terry Matthews KBE FIEE FREng and Edwina Hart MBE CStJ AM
9 August 2013, the National Eisteddfod in Denbighshire Yr Hen Fam: RS Thomas a’r Eglwys yng Nghymru A lecture (the University of Wales’s Eisteddfod Lecture) by Professor M Wynn Thomas OBE FLSW FBA; organised in association with the Learned Society of Wales
An Anniversaries Lecture by Sharon McGrayne, Seattle; organised by the Learned Society of Wales in association with the Richard Price Society
16 & 17 September 2013, Cardiff University Bio-Nano-Photonics A two-day international Symposium organised by, inter alia, Professor Paola Borri FLSW and Professor Walter Langbein FLSW (both of Cardiff University); supported by the Learned Society of Wales
17 October 2013, Cardiff University Honeybee comb: a marvel of sophisticated cellular structure A lecture by Professor Bhushan Karihaloo DEng DSc FICE FLSW, School of Engineering, Cardiff University (a lecture in the School of Engineering Distinguished Lecture Series); organised in association with and supported by the Learned Society of Wales
13 November 2013, Cardiff University
Gwyn Thomas in the Kingdom of the Chip
Cracking Pancreatitis
A Learned Society of Wales Anniversaries Discussion of the life, work and legacy of the writer and broadcaster, Gwyn Thomas (born 1913), by Professor Dai Smith FLSW and Professor Peter Stead FLSW
1 November 2013, Swansea University Laboratories of the Spirit A Learned Society of Wales Anniversaries Event in which two Fellows, the Most Rev’d Dr Barry Morgan FLSW and the Right Rev’d Dr Rowan Williams PC DD FRSL FLSW FBA, discussed the religious poetry of RS Thomas, commemorating the centenary of the late poet’s birth (Chaired by Professor M Wynn Thomas OBE FLSW FBA); organised in association with the Research Institute for Arts and Humanities and the Centre for Research into the English Literature and Language of Wales (CREW), Swansea University Pictured below
A Cardiff Scientific Society lecture by Professor Ole Petersen CBE FMedSci MAE FLSW FRS; organised in association with the Learned Society of Wales
2 December 2013, the British Academy, London The Witness of RS Thomas A Learned Society of Wales Anniversaries Lecture by Lord Gowrie PC FRSL (Grey Gowrie of Ruthven); jointly organised by the Learned Society of Wales and the British Academy
19 November 2013, the National Library of Wales, Aberystwyth Ar Drywydd Edward Lhwyd (On the Trail of Edward Lhwyd) The Inaugural Annual Edward Lhuyd Lecture of the Coleg Cymraeg Cenedlaethol (the National Welsh College) and The Learned Society of Wales), a Welsh-medium lecture by Professor Brynley Roberts CBE DLitt FLA FLSW
6 December 2013, Swansea University Championing the Chapels A Learned Society of Wales lecture by the broadcaster, Huw Edwards
9 December 2013, Swansea University The Representation of Lady Rhondda: a biographical challenge A Learned Society of Wales lecture by Professor Angela John FRHistS FLSW
17 December 2013, Cardiff University Chemistry and Light The Inaugural Learned Society of Wales Christmas Lecture, by Dr Peter Douglas, Swansea University; attended by, inter alia, students of local schools and colleges Pictured overleaf
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31 October 2013, Barry Art Central
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14 January 2014, Cardiff University
3 April 2014, Swansea University
10 April 2014, Swansea University
Wallace and the Limits to Evolution
From the Lab to Wall Street (and to patients): the ups and downs of a drug hunter
Viking Swansea – Fact or Fable?,
A lecture by Professor Steve Jones DSc FLSW FRS, University College London, in the Cardiff University Wallace Lecture Series, 2013/14; organised in association with and supported by the Learned Society of Wales
A lecture by Professor Chris McGuigan, Cardiff University; organised by the Royal Society of Chemistry in association with and supported by Swansea University and the Learned Society of Wales
20 March 2014, Brackla House, Bridgend Iolo Morganwg: Radical and Romantic A lecture by Professor Prys Morgan, FRHistS, FSA, FLSW; organised by the Richard Price Society in association with and supported by the Learned Society of Wales 24 March 2014, Cardiff University Delivering the Olympics A lecture (the 54th William Menelaus lecture), by Sir John Armitt CBE FREng FICE, Chairman, Olympic Delivery Authority; organised by SWIEET2007, in association with the Learned Society of Wales
A one-day symposium organised by the Swansea University Centre for Medieval and Early Modern Research, in association with and supported by the Learned Society of Wales; speakers included Dr John Davies FLSW
12 April 2014, Cardiff University Atlantic Europe in the Metal Ages
8 April 2014, Cardiff University Wallace and vaccination: great minds don’t always think alike A lecture by Dr Stephen Inglis, Director of the National Institute for Biological Standards and Control, in the Cardiff University Wallace Lecture Series, 2013/14; organised in association with and supported by the Learned Society of Wales
A one-day Forum organised by the University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh and Celtic Studies and supported by the Arts and Humanities Research Council and the Learned Society of Wales; speakers included Professor John Koch FLSW and Sir Barry Cunliffe CBE FSA FLSW FBA
We welcome proposals from academics and others, in Wales and more widely, for lectures, symposia and other events and activities that will support or develop our Programme.
We warmly congratulate those of our Fellows upon whom honours, prizes and awards were conferred during the year. Some of these are listed below and a full list is available on the Society’s website. Sir John Cadogan CBE DSc FRSE FRSC MAE PLSW FRS – selected to be the second recipient of the Learned Society of Wales Menelaus Medal (awarded in Swansea University, 1 July 2014) Professor Norman Davies FRHistS MAE FBA FLSW – recipient of the Longman History Today Lifetime Achievement Award, 2014 Professor Lyn Evans CBE FInstP FLSW FRS – awarded the Glazebrook Medal of the Institute of Physics, 2013; awarded the IEEE Simon Ramo Medal, 2014; overall winner of the Innovation and Technology category of the Saint David Awards, 2014 Professor Sir Richard Evans DLitt FRHistS FRSL FLSW FBA – awarded the Norton Medlicott Medal for services to history by the Historical Association, 2014
Professor Ieuan Hughes FMedSci FRCP FRCP(C) FRCPCH FLSW – awarded the 2014 James Spence Medal of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health for outstanding contributions to paediatrics Professor Graham Hutchings DSc FIChem FRSC FLSW FRS – awarded the Royal Society Davy Medal, 2013, for the discovery of catalysis by gold and seminal contributions to this new field of chemistry Professor Ronald Hutton FSA FRHistS FLSW FBA – elected to be a Fellow of the British Academy, 2013
Professor Jonathan Shepherd CBE FRCS FFPH FRCPsych FMedSci FLSW – awarded the Colyer Gold Medal of the Royal College of Surgeons of England, 2014 Professor Hywel Thomas FREng MAE FLSW FRS – recipient (as Director of the Geoenvironmental Research Centre, Cardiff University) of the Queen's Anniversary Prize, 2014 Professor Sir John Meurig Thomas DSc ScD MAE FLSW FRS – appointed to be President of the National Eisteddfod of Wales, 2014
Professor Douglas Kell CBE FIBiol FLSW – appointed to be a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the New Year’s Honours List 2014, for services to science and research Mr Alwyn Owens FLSW – awarded the Science and Technology Medal (y Fedal Wyddoniaeth a Thechnoleg) by the Council of the National Eisteddfod, 2013
Professor Peter Wells CBE DSc FREng FMedSci FIET FInstP FLSW FRS (above) – awarded the Royal Society Royal Medal, 2013, for pioneering work in developing ultrasound as a diagnostic and surgical tool Professor Baroness Ilora Finlay of Llandaff FRCP FRCGP FLSW (above) – appointed to be the President of the British Medical Association (from June 2014) Professor Geraint Gruffydd DLitt FBA FLSW – awarded the Medal of the Honourable Society of Cymmrodorion, 2014 Professor John Harries FInstP FRMetS FLSW – awarded the Mason Gold Medal of the Royal Meteorological Society, 2013 Professor John Harwood DSc FLSW – awarded the Chevreul Medal, 2014
Professor Alasdair Whittle FLSW FBA – awarded the Europa Prize of the Prehistoric Society, 2014 Professor Judith Phillips AcSS FLSW (above) – appointed to be an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in the Queen’s Birthday Honours, June 2013, for services to older people Ceridwen Roberts OBE AcSS FLSW – appointed to be an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in the New Year’s Honours List 2014, for services to social science
Professor Julie Williams CBE FLSW – appointed to be the Chief Scientific Adviser for Wales, September 2013 The Rt Hon Lord Rowan Williams of Oystermouth PC DD FRSL FLSW FBA – awarded the President’s Medal of the British Academy, 2013
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Recognition of our Fellows’ excellence: honours, prizes and awards
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Building relationships and forging connections Relationship building is an important aspect of the Society’s development. During the year our Officers have corresponded or held discussions with representatives of a range of organisations, including:
officers and representatives of organisations that support the academic work of the Welsh Universities, including the Coleg Cymraeg Cenedlaethol, the University of Wales Press and the Welsh Crucible;
the Vice-Chancellors and other officers and staff of Welsh Universities;
officers of the UK National Commission of UNESCO; and
UK Government, Welsh Government and other politicians and senior civil servants, including:
officers and representatives of other charities.
the Rt Hon David Willetts MP, Minister of State for Universities and Science;
Huw Lewis AM, Welsh Government Minister for Education and Skills;
Edwina Hart MBE CStJ AM, Minister for Economy, Science and Transport;
the newly-appointed Chief Scientific Adviser, Professor Julie Williams CBE FLSW; and
senior officials of the Welsh Government Department for Education and Skills;
officers and representatives of other learned societies, including the British Academy, the Academy of Social Sciences, the Royal Society of Edinburgh and the Foundation for Science and Technology; the Office of HRH The Prince of Wales; officers and representatives of other national organisations in Wales, including the National Library and the National Eisteddfod;
A number of links – for example, those with the British Academy, the Foundation for Science and Technology (of whose Council our President is a member ex officio), UNESCO and the Coleg Cymraeg Cendlaethol, as well as those with the Welsh Universities – have borne fruit in the joint organisation of lectures and other events. Further joint initiatives are planned for 2014/15. We have worked with the University of Wales Press on the launch of a Societysupported series on The Scientists of Wales, to whose Editorial Board the Society’s General Secretary, Professor John Tucker MAE FBCS FLSW, has been appointed. Professor Tucker also represents the Society on the Advisory Board for the Dictionary of Welsh Biography project, which is being jointly managed by the National Library and the University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh and Celtic Studies, and the Chief Executive has been appointed to be the Society’s representative on the Court of Swansea University.
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Pictured from left: the Earl of Selborne GBE FRS, Chairman of the Foundation for Science and Technology, Sir Terry Matthews KBE FIEE FREng and Edwina Hart MBE CStJ AM at the Foundation for Science and Technology meeting at Cardiff University, 3 July 2013.
University Liaison Officers We have decided that, in order to improve links between the Society and the Universities, a Liaison Officer should be appointed in the Welsh Universities where Fellows of the Society are located. The Liaison Officers act as the primary contact for the Society’s Secretariat and Officers within the University, support the Secretariat in the organisation of events, and work to establish a collegial network of local Fellows and to organise academic and social events for them. So far, the following appointments have been made (pictured clockwise from top left): Aberystwyth University Professor Jamie Newbold FLSW Bangor University Professor Nancy Edwards FSA FLSW Cardiff University Professor David Knight FRSC FLSW Swansea University Professor Tavi Murray FLSW University of Wales Trinity Saint David The Reverend Professor Densil Morgan DD FLSW University of Wales Dr Mary-Ann Constantine FLSW
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Informing and influencing: policy advice and comments The Society’s Mission provides for it to act as a source of independent and expert scholarly advice and comment on matters affecting the wellbeing of Wales and its people and to advance public discussion and interaction on matters of national and international importance.
Amongst many other matters, the consultation invited comments on the proposal that the functions of the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales (RCAHMW) and the Welsh Government's historic environment service, Cadw, be brought together “into a single integrated national historic environment service either within or outside the Welsh Government”.
Once again, during the year we have addressed a number of areas of government policy and other matters of public interest by issuing comments and consultation responses and by engaging in dialogue with key figures. Some examples follow. Research Council funding for Welsh Research The publication in the autumn of 2013 of data that showed that the Research Council success rate for awards to researchers in Wales had fallen to 2% of the total funding for the UK led the Society to issue a paper commenting on the position. We noted that, damaging though this relatively low yield was, it was understandable given the persistent gap between the level of funding for higher education in Wales and that in England and, in particular, Scotland - a matter on which the Society had previously commented in its October 2011 publication, The Funding Gap. We went on to point out that, considering their financial handicap, the Welsh universities had nevertheless performed remarkably well, especially in the Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences, but that, properly funded, they could do even better. The future of our past In July 2013, the Welsh Government invited comments on The future of our past, a consultation on proposals for the historic environment of Wales and we submitted a detailed response in October 2013. This was drafted in consultation with a number of Fellows of the Society (Sir Barry Cunliffe CBE FSA FLSW FBA, Professor Nancy Edwards FSA FLSW, Professor Ralph Griffiths OBE DLitt FRHistS FLSW, Professor Beverley Smith FRHistS FLSW and Professor Geoffrey Wainwright MBE FSA FLSW).
“Just think what could be done with just half of the government funding available in Scotland with 4 of its universities in the world top 200 (Wales has none), noting also that Scotland’s latest share of Research Council funding has increased to 10.7%. This is not a matter of geography but is a matter of government belief in the value of universities and thus their funding. [Our] excellent scholars and researchers [need to be able to] compete against the best in the rest of the UK, without having their hands tied through lack of first class infrastructure, which is the Welsh Government’s responsibility to provide. Our universities … have shown what they can do on short rations. We should reinforce success.” From the Society’s comments on Research Council funding for Welsh Research
The Society had previously pointed out the risk that the proposed merger of the two organisations within Government posed to the scholarly skills and expertise necessary for the proper fulfilment of the RCAHMW’s core functions and, in our response to the July 2013 consultation, we reiterated the arguments against merger. We were pleased to note the announcement made by the Minister for Culture and Sport, John Griffiths AM, in January 2014 that, having carefully considered the views of respondents to the consultation, in addition to the evidence and analysis undertaken by his officials, he had decided that both organisations should remain separate for the time being. Some other matters on which we have commented since the end of the Society Year covered by this Review Are the Higher Education (Wales) Bill, on which we submitted comments to the National Assembly Committee on Children, Young People and Education; the consultation document on Making Laws in the Fourth Assembly issued by the National Assembly’s Constitutional and Legislative Affairs Committee; and the Welsh Government’s consultation, Iaith Fyw: Iaith byw (A living language, a language for living). Later during 2014/15, we will be responding to an invitation to submit evidence to the Review of Higher Education Funding and Student Finance Arrangements in Wales (the Diamond Review). Invitations of this kind are an indication that the Society is becoming an organisation whose opinion and advice are valued in official circles.
During the year, the Society issued a number of publications, all of which are available via the Publications page of the website. In addition to the Annual Review for 2012/13 and the President’s Fourth Annual Address, these included: Wales, the United Kingdom and Europe, a joint report with the British Academy, on the two conferences on devolution held in May 2014, which reviews the complex relations between Wales and the United Kingdom as a whole, and within Europe (October 2013); the Society's Comments on The future of our past, the Welsh Government’s consultation on proposals for the historic environment of Wales (October 2013); the Society's Comments on Research Council funding for Welsh research (November 2013);
We have decided to embark on a Programme of Studies and to publish the results. So far, papers have been commissioned on:
Ar Drywydd Edward Lhwyd (On the Trail of Edward Lhwyd), the text of the Inaugural Annual (Welsh-medium) Edward Lhuyd Lecture of the Coleg Cymraeg Cenedlaethol and the Learned Society of Wales, by Professor Brynley Roberts CBE DLitt FLA FLSW, published jointly by the Coleg and the Society (November 2013); and the Report and Recommendations of the Society’s Gender Balance Working Group (March 2014) which was Chaired by Professor Teresa Rees CBE FAcSS FRSA FLSW. Pictured above
Curiosity-driven ‘Blue Sky’ Research: a threatened vital activity?, a paper (already published in June 2014) by the Society’s Inaugural President, Sir John Cadogan CBE DSc FRSE FRSC MAE PLSW FRS, that questions superficial assumptions about value of funding blue skies research; analyses and celebrates the impact it has on our economy and quality of life; and criticises the heavy contemporary emphasis on wellfunded directed research programmes and points out some negative side-effects; The Value of Postgraduate Students to the Economy, a study being conducted by a Working Group Chaired by Professor Graham Richards CBE DSc FRSC FLSW, with support from Professor David Blackaby FLSW and Professor Gareth Rees FAcSS FLSW.
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Reports and other publications
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Our Fellowship Following its fourth annual election cycle, the Society now has more than three hundred and fifty Fellows, who are prominent figures within their respective fields. We will continue to focus on excellence and achievement as we build a strong, representative Fellowship that will represent the very best of which Wales is capable in the major academic disciplines. The forty-two new Fellows elected in 2013/14 are listed below and on the pages that follow.
Criteria for election to Fellowship Election to Fellowship of the Learned Society of Wales is via nomination by existing Fellows. It is open to men and women of all ages and from all ethnic groups: who have a demonstrable record of excellence and achievement in any of the academic disciplines or who, being members of the professions, the arts, industry, commerce or public service, have made a distinguished contribution to the world of learning; and who are resident in Wales, or who are persons of Welsh birth but are resident elsewhere, or who otherwise have a particular connection with Wales.
New Fellows elected in 2014 Professor John Andrews CBE FLSW, University of South Wales, formerly: HEFCW; University of Wales Aberystwyth
Law
Professor Anthony Atkins ScD FREng FIMechE FIMMM FLSW, University of Reading
Mechanics
Professor Paul Atkinson AcSS FRAI FLSW, Cardiff University
Sociology
Professor David Austin FSA FRHistS FLSW, University of Wales Trinity St David
Archaeology
Professor Martin Ball FRCSLT FRSA FLSW, University of Louisiana
Linguistics
Professor Malcolm Brown FLSW, Cardiff University
Computer Science
Professor Ian Cameron CBE FRCP FMedSci FLSW, formerly: University of Wales College of Medicine; United Medical and Dental Schools of Guys and St Thomas’s
Medicine
Professor Ruth Chadwick AcSS FSB FRSA FLSW, Cardiff University
Medical and Bioethics
Professor Michael Dear FLSW, University of California, Berkeley Pictured opposite with Sir John Cadogan
City and Regional Planning
Dr Sara Delamont DSc AcSS FLSW, Cardiff University
Sociology
Professor Richard Delbridge AcSS FBAM FLSW, Cardiff University
Social Science / Management
Professor Geoffrey Gadd DSc FRSE FIUPAC FLS FAAM FSB FLSW, University of Dundee
Microbiology
Professor Katie Gramich FEA FLSW, Cardiff University
English Literature
Professor Keith Harding CBE FRCGP FRCP FRCS FLSW, Cardiff University
Medicine
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Mr Anthony Harrington FCIWEM FLSW, Dwr Cymru / Welsh Water
Environmental Engineering
Professor Mark Haskins FLSW, Imperial College London
Pure Mathematics
Professor Ann Heilmann FEA FLSW, Cardiff University
English Literature
Professor Andrew Hopkins FRSC FSB FLSW, Dundee University
Medicinal Informatics
Professor Nigel John FEG FLSW, Bangor University
Computer Science
Dr Aled Gruffydd Jones FRHistS FRAsiaticS FHEA FLSW, National Library of Wales
History
Professor Mark H Lee FIET FLSW, Aberystwyth University
Computer Science
Professor David Lloyd FLSW, Cardiff University
Microbiology
Professor John Loughlin FRHistS FRSA AcSS FLSW, University of Cambridge
Politics
Professor Christopher McGuigan FLSW, Cardiff University
Medicinal Chemistry
Professor Gennady Mishuris MAMS FLSW, Aberystwyth University
Applied Mathematics
Mr Dennis O'Neill FLTC FLSW, Wales International Academy of Voice
Music (Opera)
Professor Richard Palmer FRSC FInstP FLSW, University of Birmingham
Physics
Professor Stephen Palmer FFPHM FRCP FLSW, Cardiff University
Epidemiology and Public Health
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Professor Christopher Pollock CBE FSB FRAgS FLSW, formerly, Aberystwyth University
Crop and Pasture Physiology
Professor Michael Scott FLSW, IQE plc
Engineering
Professor James Scourse FLSW, Bangor University
Marine Geology
Professor Frank Sengpiel FSB FLSW, Cardiff University
Neuroscience
Mr Richard Suggett FSA FRHistS FLSW, Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales
Architectural and Social History
Professor Alessandra Tanesini FLSW, Cardiff University
Philosophy
Professor Howard Thomas FWIF FLSW, formerly, Aberystwyth University
Biological, Environmental and Rural Sciences
Dr Geoffrey Thomas FLSW, University of Wales Trinity St David; formerly, Kellogg College, University of Oxford
Continuing Education
Professor Lancelot Thomas FInstP FLSW, formerly, Aberystwyth University
Physics
Professor David Trotter FLSW, Aberystwyth University
French
Professor Hazel Walford Davies FLSW, University of South Wales
Literary, Cultural and Theatre Studies
Professor Gareth Williams FRCPath FLSW, University College London
Pathology
Professor Gruffydd Aled Williams FLSW, formerly, Aberystwyth University
Welsh
Professor Alison Wray AcSS FLSW, Cardiff University
Linguistics
Fellows at the 2013 Annual General Meeting
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Professor Meirion Wyn Roberts DSc FRSC FLSW (1 February 1931 – 5 March 2014) It is with great sadness that we record the death, aged 83, of Professor Wyn Roberts, who was elected to be a Fellow of the Society in 2011 and who had served as a Member of its Council since May 2013. His distinction as a physical chemist and his pioneering work in modern surface science were recognized inter alia by the award of the Tilden Medal of the Royal Society of Chemistry (1976), the Royal Society of Chemistry Prize in Surface Chemistry (1987) and the A G Evans Medal (2008). Between 1979 and 1988 he served as Head of the Department of Physical Chemistry and, between 1988 and 1997, as Head of the School of Chemistry, at University College, Cardiff / the University of Wales, Cardiff (now Cardiff University), where he also served as Deputy Principal between 1989 and 1992. On retirement in 1998 he became a Research Professor in the School.
The Report of the Council’s Gender Balance Working Group The Society wishes, as far as possible, subject to the over-riding criterion of the excellence of those elected, to achieve an appropriate balance amongst its Fellowship in terms of age, subject distribution, geographical distribution and, in particular, sex. Following the third election of new Fellows in 2012/13, only 11.8 per cent of our Fellows were women. Even now, following the 2013/14 election, when women made up 16.6 per cent of the new Fellows, the overall figure stands at just 12.4 per cent. In October 2013, the Council established a Gender Balance Working Group, comprising a small group of Fellows, and Chaired by a member of Council, Professor Teresa Rees CBE AcSS FRSA FLSW. The Group’s remit was to advise the Council on how the imbalance in the gender distribution of the Fellowship might most appropriately be addressed. The Group’s Report and Recommendations were warmly welcomed and approved by the Council in March 2014. The Recommendations provide for a number of adjustments to the Society’s procedures as well as initiatives such as the reconstitution of the Nominations Committee which is being given a more pro-active remit in the area of gender balance, and are being implemented during the 2014/15 Election Cycle. The full text of the Report is available on the Society’s website.
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Planning for a sustainable future The Society’s Strategic Aim is, by the end of the current planning period (July 2018), to develop itself as a sustainable organisation that is fit for purpose and that is acknowledged both as the recognised representative of the world of Welsh learning internationally and as a source of authoritative, scholarly and critical comment and advice to the National Assembly and other bodies on policy issues affecting Wales. The Society has been able, during the four years since its launch in 2010, to go some way towards raising its profile and securing recognition within the higher education and government sectors in Wales, as well as more generally, and our intention to build upon this initial success is reflected in the Strategy and Plan approved by the Council in January 2014. The Plan is realistic and achievable, whilst also being appropriately aspirational and ambitious, and provides for the core activities described elsewhere in this Review to be further
developed, expanded and enhanced. It also makes specific provision for two special initiatives: the establishment of the Young Academy of Wales for promising younger scholars and other talented and creative members of the rising generation who do not (yet) fulfil the criteria for election to Fellowship; and the organisation of International Symposia that will enable topics of importance to Wales and the world (including the economy, global security, sustainability and sustainable development, and energy) to be discussed in depth by distinguished, high profile speakers drawn from around the world, with the aim of contributing to improvements in the quality of life of the people within Wales (and beyond).
The Young Academy will be launched in 2016 and the first Symposium (on economic development in peripheral regions with a central currency), which will be held in Portmeirion in April 2015, is being organised in association with Bangor University, which has generously agreed to contribute towards the costs. The plans for these initiatives demonstrate the Society’s commitment to advancing learning and knowledge and to investing in and adding value to the economic, social, cultural and intellectual life of Wales.
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Our funding strategy
We are conscious that securing practical and financial support from a diverse range of sources will be the key to the successful implementation of our plans for development and growth. Reflecting the fact that they and their academics are among the Society’s most natural supporters, during 2013/14 a large proportion of our income derived from a number of the Welsh Universities. Bangor, Cardiff and Swansea Universities each began to provide financial support for the first time, to add to the annual grant that was already being made by the University of Wales (whose original pump -priming support from 2010 had made possible the launch and early development of the Society). Our Officers and Council are very grateful to these Universities for their most welcome and generous financial commitment, as well as for the valuable in-kind support that they (together with other Welsh Universities and other organisations, including our Auditors, PricewaterhouseCoopers) have also provided.
During the year, we also derived some income from subscriptions and admission fees charged to Fellows, from grants from other charities (notably the South Wales Institute of Engineers Educational Trust – SWIEET2007), and from donations. It is important to note that, despite our current reliance on a few sources of income, we have been able to conduct its business entirely independently. We shall continue to do so. To the extent that this proves necessary in the first instance, we will ourselves invest in the development of activities, using working capital from reserves, so as to ensure the successful launch of initiatives and to demonstrate to potential external funders the importance and value of our work. However, the Council recognises the strategic importance of securing significant additional income from new sources, in order to fund new activities, as well as to cover the Society’s core costs. As well as seeking to persuade further Welsh Universities to support us financially, during 2014/15 we aim to
broaden the base of our support still further by approaching charitable trusts and corporate sector businesses and by working to persuade our Fellows and other individuals to support our work by making donations, benefactions, endowments, bequests and legacies. Other potential sources of grants for specific projects include the National Assembly for Wales and the Welsh Government, the European Union, the UK Research Councils, and other Learned Societies.
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Corporate Governance Members of Council 2013/14
New Members of Council
Our new President
(except where indicated, all continue to serve in 2014/15)
(elected to serve from 14 May 2014)
Professor Jane Aaron
Professor David Evans
Professor David Boucher
Professor Peter Wells
The Society is delighted to welcome the former diplomat, Sir Emyr Jones Parry as its new President and Chair of Council. He began his three-year term of office as President on 14 May 2014, and was elected by the Fellowship on the unanimous recommendation of the Council and its Presidential Search Committee.
Professor Michael Charlton
Sir John Cadogan (until 14 May 2014) Professor Dianne Edwards
New Officers
Professor Kenneth Dyson
(elected to serve from 14 May 2014)
Professor Robert Evans
President and Chair of Council Sir Emyr Jones Parry
Sir Roger Jones Professor John Wyn Owen Professor Roger Owen
Vice-President (Science, Engineering and Medicine)
Professor Ole Petersen
Professor Ole Petersen
Professor Teresa Rees Professor Keith G Robbins Professor M Wyn Roberts (ob. 6 March 2014) Professor Alan Shore Professor Keith Smith Professor M Wynn Thomas Professor John Tucker Professor Robin H Williams
The terms of office of the Society’s Inaugural President, Sir John Cadogan, and of its Inaugural Vice-President for Science, Engineering and Medicine, Professor Dianne Edwards, came to an end at the close of the Annual General Meeting on 14 May 2014. We are very grateful to them both for their service and unstinting commitment to the Society during its crucial formative years.
Officers 2013/14 (except where indicated, all continue to serve in 2014/15)
President and Chair of Council Sir John Cadogan (until 14 May 2014) Vice-Presidents Professor Dianne Edwards (until 14 May 2014) (Science, Engineering and Medicine) Professor M Wynn Thomas (the Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences) Treasurer Professor John Wyn Owen General Secretary Professor John Tucker
“Sir John Cadogan has made an immense contribution to the development of the Learned Society of Wales: his insight and vision, his energy, drive and determination have been instrumental in ensuring that, within a short space of time, the Society has emerged as a significant and highly-respected institution in Welsh academic and public life. The other Fellows of the Society – and, indeed, the Welsh nation as a whole – owe him a great debt of gratitude.” Professor John Tucker MAE FBCS FLSW General Secretary
A former diplomat, Sir Emyr is best known for his final diplomatic posting, that of Ambassador to the United Nations in New York, where he represented the UK in the Security Council between 2003 and 2007. His academic background is as a physicist. He gained his Bachelor’s degree and a Postgraduate Diploma in Crystallography at University College Cardiff, where he read Theoretical Physics, and his PhD in Polymer Physics at Cambridge University (St Catharine’s College), where he worked in the Cavendish Laboratory. “It is a great privilege to take on this role, and in particular to follow Sir John Cadogan who has contributed so much to the establishment of the Learned Society. I look forward to working with colleagues to build on that work and enhance the recognition of the scholarship of Wales.” Sir Emyr Jones Parry GCMG FInstP PLSW President
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Royal Patron
Royal Charter
Staff
We were delighted in March 2014 to receive confirmation that His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales, had accepted the Council’s invitation to become the Society’s Royal Patron and that he would take on the role for an initial period of five years.
The Society is a registered charity and is currently constituted as a company limited by guarantee under a Memorandum and Articles of Association. The Council has decided to petition for a Royal Charter (and, as a first formal step in the process, in June 2014, submitted a letter of intent to the Privy Council Office).
Chief Executive and Secretary
“This is wonderful news. The Learned Society of Wales is greatly privileged and greatly honoured by His Royal Highness’s decision to become its Royal Patron. The announcement will be warmly welcomed by our Fellowship.” Sir John Cadogan CBE DSc FRSE FRSC MAE PLSW FRS
(Inaugural President 2010 – 2014)
If the application is successful, this change to its constitutional arrangements will place the Society on an equivalent constitutional footing to that of the national learned societies of other parts of the United Kingdom and will be entirely in keeping with its standing as Wales’s national scholarly academy.
Dr Lynn Williams Executive Officers Dr Sarah Morse Georgia Burdett (from 1 October 2013)
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Clockwise from top left: Professor Alistair Cole FRHistS FAcSS FLSW at the ‘Wales, the United Kingdom and Europe’ event; Dr Gretchen Kalonji, Assistant Director-General for Natural Sciences, UNESCO, addressing the Wales Colloquium of the UK National Commission for UNESCO; Dr Rowan Williams PC DD FRSL FLSW FBA signs the Society’s Roll of Fellows; Dr Jasmine Donahaye speaking on Wales, Israel, Palestine; Audience at the ‘Wales, the United Kingdom and Europe’ event; The Rt Hon Carwyn Jones AM, First Minister of Wales, addresses the Wales UNESCO Colloquium.
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Clockwise from top left: Amy Jones, Swansea University, winner of the Society-supported ESRC Wales Doctoral Training Centre PhD poster prize at the WISERD Conference July 2013; Dr Peter Douglas’s ‘Chemistry and Light’ lecture; Sir John Cadogan CBE DSc FRSE FRSC MAE PLSW FRS formally admitting Professor Katie Gramich FLSW to Fellowship; Audience of young people and invited guests at the Society’s inaugural Menelaus Medal Lecture; Sir Adam Roberts KCMG FBA, President of the British Academy, at the ‘Wales, the United Kingdom and Europe’ event; Huw Edwards championing the chapels of Wales.
The Learned Society of Wales is Wales’s first national scholarly academy. It was established and launched in May 2010. It now has more than three hundred Fellows, who are prominent figures within their respective academic disciplines. The Society’s guiding ethos is Celebrating Scholarship and Serving the Nation: as well as to celebrate, recognise, safeguard and encourage excellence in every one of the scholarly disciplines, its purpose is also to harness and channel the nation’s talent, as embodied in its Fellows, for the benefit, primarily, of Wales and its people. Its Strategic Aim is to be a sustainable organisation that is fit for purpose and that is acknowledged both as the recognised representative of the world of Welsh learning internationally and as a source of authoritative, scholarly and critical comment and advice to the National Assembly and other bodies on policy issues affecting Wales.
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