Case study: Professor Dame Nancy Rothwell FRS

University Research Fellow (1984-1992)
Professor of Physiology, President and Vice-Chancellor of University of Manchester

Professor Dame Nancy Rothwell FRS became the first woman to lead the University of Manchester (or either of its two predecessor organisations) when she became its President and Vice-Chancellor in 2010. At that time she was the only female Vice-Chancellor of a Russell Group university. Under her leadership, the university has grown its income significantly.

After being awarded a URF in 1984, she relocated to Manchester in 1987. She became Chair in Physiology at the university in 1994 and held a Medical Research Council Research Chair there between 1998 and 2010. She is still active as a Professor of Physiology, and the research focus of her scientific group is on stroke, brain haemorrhage and injury.

Professor Rothwell has held numerous leadership roles in the past including having been founding President of the Royal Society of Biology, serving as President of the British Neuroscience Association, being a council member of the Medical Research Council, BBSRC and Cancer Research UK and serving as a non-executive director of AstraZeneca.

She is currently Co-Chair of the Prime Minister’s Council for Science and Technology, a Deputy Lieutenant for Greater Manchester, a member of the Northern Powerhouse Partnership Board, and a member of the Greater Manchester Local Enterprise Partnership, among other posts.

Professor Rothwell is a Fellow of the Royal Society.