Alison Elliot (born 27 November 1948) is an honorary fellow at New College, Edinburgh. She was the former Associate Director of the Centre for Theology and Public Issues at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

. In 2004 she became the first woman ever to be elected Moderator of the General Assembly of the

Church of Scotland The Church of Scotland (CoS; ; ) is a Presbyterian denomination of Christianity that holds the status of the national church in Scotland. It is one of the country's largest, having 245,000 members in 2024 and 259,200 members in 2023. While mem ...

."[eb, url=https://www.rse.org.uk/about-us/our-people/, title=People, date=2016-07-26, website=The Royal Society of About This Artwork: Jennifer McRae: Alison Elliot, b. 1948. Moderator Elect of the Church of Scotland]". Edinburgh, Scotland: National Galleries of Scotland, retrieved online 29 August 2018. An Kirk Elder, elder and session clerk at Greyfriars Kirk in

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

, she was also the first non-minister to hold this post since George Buchanan in 1567.

Background and education

Alison Elliot was born in

in 1948. She was educated at

Bathgate Academy Bathgate Academy is a Mixed-sex education, mixed secondary school in Bathgate, West Lothian, Scotland, also serving the nearby town of Blackburn, West Lothian, Blackburn. History Established by the will of John Newland (a Jamaican-plantation sla ...

, the

and the

University of Sussex The University of Sussex is a public university, public research university, research university located in Falmer, East Sussex, England. It lies mostly within the city boundaries of Brighton and Hove. Its large campus site is surrounded by the ...

Career

Her professional career is in

psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Its subject matter includes the behavior of humans and nonhumans, both consciousness, conscious and Unconscious mind, unconscious phenomena, and mental processes such as thoughts, feel ...

, but her public profile has been chiefly through her church work. She was Research Associate in the Department of Linguistics at the University of Edinburgh 1973–1974, then lecturer in psychology at the University of Lancaster 1974–1976 and at the University of Edinburgh 1977–1985. She is the author of two publications: ''Child Language'' (1981) and ''The Miraculous Everyday'' (2005). She served as Convener of the Committee on Church and Nation of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland 1996–2000, as well as Session Clerk at Greyfriars Kirk in Edinburgh. She was involved in building ecumenical relations, and was a member of the Central Committee of the Conference of European Churches (CEC) 2003-2009 (and also moderated CEC's Assembly held in

Lyon Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, in July 2009). She played a key role in Action of Churches Together in Scotland. In 2004 she was elected Moderator of the General Assembly of the

and was the first woman to be elected to that post. The OBE was conferred upon her for her ecumenical work. In 2016, she became only the third person to receive the Scottish Public Service Awards' Lifetime Achievement Award. She is a founding board member of the Palestine Festival of Literature. Since 2007 she has been Convener of the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations. In 2018 she became General Secretary of The Royal Society of Edinburgh, of which she has been a Fellow since 2008.

Family

She is married to John Elliot; they live in Edinburgh. They have two children.

Artistic recognition

In 2004 the Scottish National Portrait Gallery commissioned a portrait of Elliot by Jennifer McRae."About This Artwork: Jennifer McRae: Alison Elliot, b. 1948. Moderator Elect of the Church of Scotland".

Background and education

Career

Family

Artistic recognition

References

See also