Professor Dame Jean Thomas Hon FRSB, RSB's President since 2014, has been appointed Chancellor of the University of Swansea.
Dame Jean is due to step down as President of the RSB in May, when her four-year term comes to an end. She will be succeeded by Professor Dame Julia Goodfellow FRSB, the immediate past Vice-Chancellor of the University of Kent who has also served as the Chief Executive of the BBSRC and President of Universities UK, among other key roles.
Dame Jean, a renowned biochemist who was awarded a DBE in 2004 for her contribution to the field, originally studied chemistry at the University of Swansea (then the University of Wales, Swansea) in the 1960s. She told the BBC she was looking forward to being part of the university's "exciting ambition" in the run up to its centenary year in 2020.
In the next issue of The Biologist, Dame Jean reflects on her time as RSB President and discusses her new role with incoming President Dame Julia.