Professor Stuart K Monro OBE FRSE
Professor Stuart K Monro OBE FRSE will be awarded a DSc on Friday 14 June 2024 during the afternoon ceremony.
Professor Monro joined the Court of St Andrews University in 2014 and was elected Deputy Chair of the Court and subsequently Acting Senior Lay Member.
The founding Scientific Director of Dynamic Earth in Edinburgh and of the Scottish Consortium for Rural Research, Professor Monro was Vice-Convener of the Court of Edinburgh University and is an honorary professor in the School of Geosciences at Edinburgh University.
Professor Monro served as a Trustee of National Museums of Scotland and has advised the Scottish Government on science strategy as a member and then the first independent Co-Chair of the Scottish Science Advisory Council.
In 1998 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Scottish Society of Arts and served twice as President. He has served as President of the Westmorland Geological Society (1994 to 2005) and twice as President of the Edinburgh Geological Society. In 2010 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh and, in 2011, a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland.
Professor Monro graduated in Geology from Aberdeen University in 1970 and immediately embarked on a lengthy career with the British Geological Survey (BGS), making a number of contributions to the understanding of the geology of central Scotland and the application of geology to environmental issues, both in the UK and within the Western European Geological Surveys. During this time he completed a part-time PhD at the University of Edinburgh.
Since 2003 he has been Co-Convenor of the Scottish Earth Science Education Forum, a voluntary group established to support a greater understanding of Earth sciences in Scottish schools and colleges and the use of a cross-disciplinary approach to enhance learning in science. He was a member of the Education Committee of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Convener of its Young People’s Committee, and Co-Chair of the Public Engagement Group.
He sat on the Steering Committee responsible for drafting the 2017 iteration of the Scottish Code of Good Higher Education Governance.
In 2005 Professor Monro was appointed by Scottish Ministers as a Trustee of National Museums of Scotland and served on the Personnel and Remuneration Committee, as well as the Research Advisory Group.
Professor Monro served as a Non-Executive Director of the Edinburgh International Science Festival and an honorary geological adviser to the John Muir Trust. He has served as a member of the Council of the Geological Society of London, chairing the Education Committee, on the Royal Society of Edinburgh’s Young People’s Committee, and on the Sectional Committee assessing and recommending candidates for Fellowship the Society.
He was awarded an OBE for services to science in 2006, the Distinguished Service Award of the Geological Society of London in 2009, and the honorary degree of Doctor of the University (DUniv) by the Open University in June 2011. The Royal Scottish Geographical Society awarded him an Honorary Fellowship in March 2014 and honorary doctorates (DSc) from Heriot Watt and Edinburgh Universities have also been conferred.