Professor Pat Monaghan has become the first woman to take up the Chair of Zoology at the University of Glasgow.

The Regius Chair of Zoology, which is the only one in the UK, was created in 1807 by King George III when it was called the Regius Chair in Natural History. The title was changed to zoology in 1903.

Prof Monaghan was appointed professor of animal ecology in 1997. She is an internationally-recognised scientist and an elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh and the Academia Europea.

Prof Monaghan said: “I am deeply honoured to be appointed to such a historic and prestigious position, and thrilled to be the first women to take up the post.”

Her work focuses on how animals deal with environmental change, particularly in recent years on the effects of early life conditions on later life performance, including the rate of ageing. She was recently awarded an Advanced Investigator Award by the European Research Council, given to ‘outstanding scientists doing pioneering research’, for her work on links between stress and lifespan.

The last person to hold the Regius Chair of Zoology was Keith Vickerman, Honorary Professor, from 1984 to 1998.

For more information contact the University of Glasgow Media Relations Office on 0141 330 3535 or email media@glasgow.ac.uk

First published: 23 December 2012

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