"The Role of Universities in the 21st Century"

Professor Dame Nancy Rothwell, FRS, is President and Vice-Chancellor of The University of Manchester. She became Professor of Physiology in 1994 and held an MRC Research Chair from 1998 to 2010. Her research in the field of neuroscience, which is ongoing, has contributed towards major advances in the understanding and treatment of brain damage in stroke and head injury.

She was elected Fellow of the Royal Society in June 2004 and made Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in June 2005 for her services to science.

Professor Rothwell became President and Vice-Chancellor in July 2010, the first woman to lead The University of Manchester or its two predecessor institutions. She was the founding President of the Royal Society of Biology, and served as a non-executive director of AstraZeneca. She is co-Chair of the Prime Minister’s Council for Science and Technology, a Deputy Lieutenant for Greater Manchester, a member of several Boards concerned with regional development of the North West, and a member of the UK Dementia Research Institute Board.

Professor Rothwell takes an active interest in public communication of science, particularly on sensitive issues. In 1998 she delivered the Royal Institution Christmas Lectures, televised by the BBC.