Lesley Jane Yellowlees (born 1953) is a British inorganic chemist conducting research in Spectroelectrochemistry, Electron transfer reactions and Electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) Spectroscopy. Yellowlees was also elected as the president of the

Royal Society of Chemistry The Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) is a learned society and professional association in the United Kingdom with the goal of "advancing the chemistry, chemical sciences". It was formed in 1980 from the amalgamation of the Chemical Society, the ...

2012–14 and was the first woman to hold that role .RSC News, August 2012, pp 12–13 "Lesley Yellowlees"

Early life and education

Yellowlees was born in 1953 in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, moving to

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 ...

at the age of 9 and attending St Hilary's Girls' School. Her father worked for Rank Hovis McDougall, and she has two sisters.''The Herald'' 2 July 2012
Rebecca McQuilllan "You've got to have support because work is not always going to go well She completed her higher education 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 ...

, gaining a BSc in Chemical Physics in 1975, and PhD in Inorganic

Electrochemistry Electrochemistry is the branch of physical chemistry concerned with the relationship between Electric potential, electrical potential difference and identifiable chemical change. These reactions involve Electron, electrons moving via an electronic ...

in 1982. Yellowlees was the only woman graduate in her undergraduate class, graduating with a first. Continuing on from this Yellowlees began her

postdoctoral research A postdoctoral fellow, postdoctoral researcher, or simply postdoc, is a person professionally conducting research after the completion of their doctoral studies (typically a PhD). Postdocs most commonly, but not always, have a temporary acade ...

in the

University of Glasgow The University of Glasgow (abbreviated as ''Glas.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals; ) is a Public university, public research university in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded by papal bull in , it is the List of oldest universities in continuous ...

in 1983.

Career and research

Lesley Yellowlees' first job was as an administrator in the

National Health Service The National Health Service (NHS) is the term for the publicly funded health care, publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom: the National Health Service (England), NHS Scotland, NHS Wales, and Health and Social Care (Northern ...

, but after moving to

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

, she went into electrochemical researchMRC Clinical Sciences Centre ''Suffrage Science 2013''
9–13 Lesley Yellowlees and Molly Stevens review successes in science while raising families subsequently worked in the

University of Queensland The University of Queensland is a Public university, public research university located primarily in Brisbane, the capital city of the Australian state of Queensland. Founded in 1909 by the Queensland parliament, UQ is one of the six sandstone ...

. Returning to the University of Edinburgh, to do a PhD on solar cell chemistry, Yellowlees became a demonstrator in 1986, a lecturer in 1989Edit
(University of Edinburgh alumni magazine) June 2011 p 24 "Master and Apprentice" and was appointed Professor of Inorganic Electrochemistry in 2005. She was the first woman to be appointed head of chemistry in the university. And is also vice-principal of the university and head of the College of Science and Engineering.

Honours and awards

Yellowlees was made a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry in 2005 and an Honorary Fellow of

in 2015. She became a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 2012.Professor Yellowlees
and is also a Fellow of the

Institute of Physics The Institute of Physics (IOP) is a UK-based not-for-profit learned society and professional body that works to advance physics education, physics research, research and applied physics, application. It was founded in 1874 and has a worldwide ...

.www.ed.ac.uk
University of Edinburgh "Professor Lesley Yellowlees MBE FRSC FRSE FInstP" To mark the International Year of Chemistry,

IUPAC The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC ) is an international federation of National Adhering Organizations working for the advancement of the chemical sciences, especially by developing nomenclature and terminology. It is ...

selected 25 women including Yellowlees for the Distinguished Women Chemistry/Chemical Engineering Award.www.chemistryviews.org
Distinguished Women Chemistry/Chemical Engineering Award She took over the presidency of the Royal Society of Chemistry on 4 July 2012 for a two-year term (she was succeeded by Professor Dominic Tildesley). The National Portrait Gallery has two portraits of her.L. J. Jordanova (2000) Defining Features: Scientific and Medical Portraits, 1660–2000 (Reaktion Books) There is also a painting of her by Peter Edwards in Burlington House, the headquarters of the Royal Society of Chemistry.mag.digitalpc.co.uk
Lesley Yellowlees Yellowlees was appointed MBE in 2005 for services to science and CBE in the 2014 New Year Honours for services to chemistry. Yellowlees holds Honorary Doctorates from Heriot-Watt University (awarded in 2012), and Edinburgh Napier University (awarded in 2016). Yellowlees was named the

Alumnus of the Year 2013 in honour of her research, leadership and her work as an advocate for women in STEM subjects. In 2014, she was included in the BBC's 100 Women.

Personal life

She is married to Peter W. Yellowlees, a Chartered Accountant,Board of Governors, Merchiston School
P. W. Yellowlees and they have two children.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yellowlees, Lesley 1953 births British chemists British women chemists Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Fellows of the Royal Society of Chemistry Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Fellows of the Institute of Physics Living people Alumni of the University of Edinburgh College of Science and Engineering Academics of the University of Edinburgh Scientists from London Scientists from Edinburgh Presidents of the Royal Society of Chemistry People educated at St Margaret's School, Edinburgh Members_of_the_Order_of_the_British_Empire