Dame Frances Carolyn Saunders (born 28 June 1954) is a British scientist and former civil servant. She was the chief executive of

Dstl The Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) is an executive agency of the Ministry of Defence of the United Kingdom. Its stated purpose is "to maximise the impact of science and technology for the defence and security of the UK". The a ...

between August 2007 and March 2012. Prior to this Saunders was a policy officer at the

Office of Science and Technology The Office of Science and Technology (OST), later (briefly) named the Office of Science and Innovation, was a non-ministerial government department of the British government between 1992 and 2007. The office was responsible for co-ordination of ...

and research scientist into liquid crystal devices at the

Royal Signals and Radar Establishment The Royal Signals and Radar Establishment (RSRE) was a scientific research establishment within the Ministry of Defence (MoD) of the United Kingdom. It was located primarily at Malvern in Worcestershire, England. The RSRE motto was ''Ubique ...

. Saunders was the

president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese f ...

of the

Institute of Physics The Institute of Physics (IOP) is a UK-based learned society and professional body that works to advance physics education, research and application. It was founded in 1874 and has a worldwide membership of over 20,000. The IOP is the Physica ...

from 2013 to 2015. Saunders attended the girls-only Portsmouth High School, before attending the University of Nottingham to study physics. She became Leyland's first female graduate engineer, on an electronic engineering apprenticeship, eventually leaving due to frustration that the electronic systems she worked on were not used on mass-production scales. This was when she joined the RSRE and started a part-time PhD in liquid crystal devices. After retiring from Dstl in 2012, Saunders took on a number of activities promoting science, engineering and leadership, especially for young people. She was appointed as a member of the

UK Space Agency The United Kingdom Space Agency (UKSA) is an executive agency of the Government of the United Kingdom, responsible for the United Kingdom's civil space programme. It was established on 1 April 2010 to replace the British National Space Centr ...

Steering Board in 2015, was president of the IOP from 2013 to 2015, and is a trustee of the Engineering Development Trust. She was elected a fellow of the

Royal Academy of Engineering The Royal Academy of Engineering (RAEng) is the United Kingdom's national academy of engineering. The Academy was founded in June 1976 as the Fellowship of Engineering with support from Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, who became the first senior ...

in 2011, and was made a Companion of the Order of the Bath the same year. In 2018, Saunders was named a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) for "services to Science and Engineering", announced as part of the 2018 Queen's Birthday Honours List.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saunders, Frances 1954 births Living people British civil servants Companions of the Order of the Bath 20th-century British physicists British women physicists Fellows of the Institute of Physics Presidents of the Institute of Physics Fellows of the Royal Academy of Engineering Female Fellows of the Royal Academy of Engineering People educated at Portsmouth High School (Southsea) Alumni of the University of Nottingham Dames Commander of the Order of the British Empire 20th-century women engineers 21st-century women engineers