The Board of the Macaulay Institute has announced the appointment of Professor Bill Ritchie as Interim Chief Executive of the Macaulay Institute, on the departure of the present Chief Executive and Director of Research Professor Maggie Gill on 1 February 2006.

Professor Gill is moving to the new post of Chief Scientific Adviser with the Scottish Executive Environment and Rural Affairs Department (SEERAD), but will be maintaining her links with Aberdeen through a part-time position with the University of Aberdeen’s College of Physical Sciences as professor of Integrated Land Use.

Professor Ritchie (originally from Wishaw in Lanarkshire) started his career at the University of Aberdeen in 1964, after graduating from the University of Glasgow with a degree in Geography. He continued his career at the University of Aberdeen, through to 1995, having risen to the post of Senior Vice-Principal. He was Vice-Chancellor of the University of Lancaster from 1995 to 2002, when he returned to Aberdeen as the first Director of the Aberdeen Institute for Coastal Science and Management within the University of Aberdeen. Professor Ritchie will continue to spend one day a week in this latter role while acting as Interim Chief Executive at The Macaulay.

The Board of the Macaulay will start recruiting for a full-time permanent Chief Executive in December.

Melvin Cannell, Acting Chair, Macaulay Board of Governors, said: “The Board is delighted that Professor Bill Ritchie has agreed to serve as Interim Chief Executive. We are fortunate, indeed, to have the services of such an outstanding former University Vice-Chancellor, distinguished academic and research manager. This appointment gives the Board the time it needs to undertake the critical task of identifying and appointing a new Chief Executive. I warmly welcome Professor Ritchie to the Macaulay.”

Commenting on Professor Maggie Gill’s appointment at SEERAD, he added: “On behalf of the Board of the Macaulay Institute, I would like to congratulate Professor Maggie Gill on being offered this prestigious appointment. It is a great achievement. I also use this opportunity to pay tribute to the many years of outstanding leadership Maggie has provided at the Macaulay. Maggie has a rare combination of vision, drive and wise practical judgment. With these skills, she has been strongly instrumental in developing the Macaulay to its current pre-eminent position in land use research. The Board and staff are greatly indebted to her. Her departure will be a great loss, but the Macaulay, and indeed all those involved in environmental and rural affairs in Scotland, should be reassured that the Executive will be receiving sound scientific advice from someone with real ability and understanding. We wish her every success.”

The Macaulay Institute is the premier land use research institute in the UK. Two hundred and seventy staff are based at the Macaulay Institute at Craigiebuckler in Aberdeen. The Macaulay Institute aims to be an international leader in research on the use of rural land resources for the benefit of people and the environment and is involved in research across the globe; from Scotland to Chile and China. More about the Macaulay Institute can be found at www.macaulay.ac.uk.

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