The first woman to become executive director of scientific academy the Royal Society has been given a damehood in the New Year Honours list.
Dame Julie Maxton, who took up the position in 2011, becomes a dame for services to science and to the law.
While at the society, she has been the driving force in establishing the Science and the law programme, which brings scientists and members of the judiciary together to discuss and debate key areas of common interest and ensure the best scientific guidance is available to the courts.
Dame Julie, who originally trained as a lawyer, said the damehood came as a surprise and paid tribute to her colleagues.
“It’s a programme which really brings judges and scientists together so that the scientists can help judges understand where the advances in science are happening and what might end up in court, but also the judges can explain to scientists where the remits of law lie in certain areas.
“But really it’s my thanks to everybody who has participated in the programme and the officers of the Royal Society who supported it. It’s kind of serendipitous because I’m a lawyer and I find myself at the Royal Society so what an opportunity, I thought, to bring scientists and lawyers together.
“The real joy in it is the way it’s been perceived as valuable by both the scientists and the lawyers.”
The Royal Society, the origins of which date back to 1660, is a fellowship of many of the world’s most eminent scientists and describes itself as the oldest scientific academy in continuous existence.
Before taking up the post of executive director, Dame Julie was registrar at the University of Oxford, and was the first woman in 550 years in that role.
Originally from Edinburgh, the mother-of-one trained as a barrister at the Middle Temple in London, and combined a career as a practising lawyer with that of an academic.
She held 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.
