Jocelyn Bell Burnell is currently Visiting Professor of Astrophysics at Oxford. She was only the second woman in its 180-year history to be President of the Royal Astronomical Society when she was appointed in 2002.
Professor Bell Burnell directs many of her efforts towards the advancement of astronomy (and of women in astronomy) and is deeply involved in the teaching and public understanding of physics and astronomy, including several years as Chair of PPARC’s Public Understanding of Science and Technology Advisory Panel. She is a role model for women in science, and commands the respect and admiration of both the scientific and general public, many of whom who are aware of her singular achievements through the many books which have described her discovery of pulsars and her subsequent career.