Mary Bownes

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Mary Bownes
Born1948 (age 76–77)
Devon, England
Alma mater University of Sussex (DPhil)
Awards FRES, FRSE, FRSB
Scientific career
Fields Molecular biology, Developmental biology
Institutions University of Edinburgh, University of Essex
Thesis Determination in drosophila embryos  (1973)

Mary Bownes OBE FRSE FRES FRSB is an English molecular and developmental biologist; she was Vice Principal Community Engagement and is Emerita Professor of Developmental Biology at the University of Edinburgh. [1] She has taught genetics, molecular biology and developmental biology at all levels and was previously Head of the Institute of Cell and Molecular Biology at the University from 1998 to 2001. [2]

Contents

Education and research career

Bownes was awarded her Ph.D by the University of Sussex 1973 for her thesis on determination in drosophila embryos [3] and continued to research oogenesis and embryogenesis in drosophila over the next years at the University of Freiburg, University of California, Irvine and University of Essex before settling at the University of Edinburgh in 1979. [2] She was appointed Professor of Developmental Biology in 1993 [2] and Head of the Institute of Cell and Molecular Biology in 1998. [2]

Positions held

Bownes is an External Advisor to the Royal Society Evaluation Panel, [4] a board member of the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland, [5] Director of the Scottish Initiative for Biotechnology Education, [1] Director of the Edinburgh Beltane [6] and a member of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Meeting Committee. [7] She is a trustee of the National Museums of Scotland. [5] [8]

Bownes's previous roles have included being a member of the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council Strategy Board, [9] and serving on the boards of the Scottish Association for Marine Science [10] and Highlands and Islands Enterprise. [1]

Bownes conducted a review of the Speculative Society, a university-associated debating club which had male-only membership for 250 years. The review recommended that the society allow women members, which it did from 2015. [11]

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Mary Bownes (OBE) Emerita Professor of Developmental Biology (Retired)". University of Edinburgh. Retrieved 24 April 2025.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Biological Sciences - People - Professor Mary Bownes". University of Edinburgh. 22 September 2022. Archived from the original on 5 July 2017.
  3. ↑ Bownes, Mary (1973). Determination in drosophila embryos (Ph.D.). University of Sussex.
  4. ↑ "Evaluation Panel". Royal Society. Archived from the original on 11 October 2016. Retrieved 12 October 2016.
  5. 1 2 "RZSS Board". Royal Zoological Society of Scotland. Retrieved 12 October 2016.
  6. ↑ "Universities look to put the public at centre of research" (PDF). Universities Scotland. Archived from the original (PDF) on 12 October 2016. Retrieved 26 October 2016.
  7. ↑ "Current Committee Members" (PDF). Royal Society of Edinburgh. 21 April 2016. Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 December 2017. Retrieved 12 October 2016.
  8. ↑ "Science Festival Interview with Professor Mary Bownes". The University of Edinburgh. 29 October 2024. Retrieved 24 April 2025.
  9. ↑ Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council Annual Report and Accounts 2006-2007 (PDF). The Stationery Office. 2007. ISBN   9780102946598.
  10. ↑ "Governance". Scottish Association for Marine Science. Archived from the original on 12 October 2016. Retrieved 12 October 2016.
  11. ↑ "Secretive Speculative Society to admit female members for first time". The Herald. 19 May 2015. Retrieved 24 April 2025.
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