Chemist Penny Brothers will head Royal Society

Professor Penny Brothers will draw on more than three decades of experience in research, teaching, and academic leadership as president of the Royal Society from July next year.

“Now that I have stepped back from my full-time academic career, I wish to draw on my accumulated skills and experience to contribute to the causes that are important to me," she says.

"The interweaving of scholarship, education and engagement are critical foundations to increase public understanding of science and research in these troubled times.” 

Brothers is an honorary professor in the School of Chemical Sciences at Waipapa Taumata Rau, University of Auckland and a professor emerita at the Australian National University.

The inorganic chemist served on the University of Auckland’s Senate for a decade, was elected president of the New Zealand Institute of Chemistry in 2017, and has served as both president and board member of the New Zealand Alpine Club.

From 2017 to 2024, Brothers served on the society’s Marsden Fund Council, convening its physics, chemistry, and biochemistry panel. During her time at the Australian National University, she directed the Research School of Chemistry from 2019 to 2024 and was on the Academic Board from 2020 to 2024.

She is a member of the Royal Australian Chemical Institute and a fellow of the Royal Society Te Apārangi, the New Zealand Institute of Chemistry, and the Royal Society of Chemistry in the United Kingdom.

Brothers will succeed the current president, the University's Distinguished Professor Dame Jane Harding, at the end of her three-year term next year. 

"The role of the Royal Society Te Apārangi to promote the value of science and research has never been more important," says Harding. "I look forward to working with Penny to ensure greater pathways to knowledge for all New Zealanders.”