Fellow of St John’s elected new Master of St Catharine’s College, Cambridge

Professor Sir Mark Welland, Fellow of St John’s, has been elected the 39th Master of St Catharine’s College, Cambridge.

Fellow of St John’s College Professor Sir Mark Welland will take up his new role of Master of St Catharine’s in October 2016. He has been a Fellow at St John’s College since 1986, and is Professor of Nanotechnology and Head of Electrical Engineering at the University of Cambridge. Sir Mark succeeds Professor Dame Jean Thomas, who has been Master of St Catharine’s since 2007.

Sir Mark was Chief Scientific Adviser to the UK Government Ministry of Defence from 2008 to 2012. He holds Fellowships of the Royal Society, the Royal Academy of Engineering, the Institute of Physics, and is a Foreign Fellow of the National Academy of Sciences of India and the Danish Academy of Sciences. He was awarded a Knighthood in the Queen's Birthday Honours list in 2011.

A world leader in nanotechnology, Sir Mark established the Nanoscience Centre in Cambridge, and he is currently researching into a broad range of both fundamental and applied problems, including using nanotechnology to understand and treat human diseases, biologically inspired nanomaterials for green technologies, and nanoelectronics for future generation energy transmission and sensing.

‘I am in equal measures humbled and excited at being elected as Master and am looking forward to supporting the Fellows, students and staff of St Catharine’s over the next years,’ said Sir Mark, who will become the 39^th Master of the College. ‘I am honoured to be following Dame Jean, who has set a very high standard of leadership and intellectual rigour.’