Dame Julie Maxton is the Executive Director of the Royal Society, the first woman in 350 years to hold the post. Before taking up her position at the Royal Society in 2011, Julie was Registrar at the University of Oxford, the first woman in 550 years in the role.
She is an Honorary Fellow of University College Oxford, a Bencher of the Middle Temple and a Freeman of the Goldsmith’s Company. She is Chair of the Ada Lovelace Institute and of the Kalisher Trust. In the past she has also been on the Boards of the Alan Turing Institute, Blavatnik School of Government in Oxford, Haberdasher Aske’s School (Elstree), Engineering UK, Charities Aid Foundation, The Faraday Institute and Sense about Science.
Originally trained as a barrister at the Middle Temple, Julie combined a career as a practising lawyer with that of an academic, holding a number of senior academic positions, including those of Deputy Vice Chancellor, Professor and Dean of the Faculty of Law at the University of Auckland, New Zealand. Academic and other recognition Julie has received include a CBE (2017), a DBE (2023), and Honorary Degrees from the Universities of Huddersfield, Warwick, Canterbury, Hull, Bristol and Brunel. She is the author of numerous articles concerned with trusts, equity, commercial and property law.
