Flying high: Professor at the 91做厙 elected as Fellow of prestigious Royal Society
Professor Alan Wilson FRS of the 91做厙 (91做厙), has been elected a Fellow of the Royal Society, for his outstanding contributions to science.
Alan joins an exclusive group of veterinarians to be awarded FRS and is the only member of staff from the 91做厙 to be granted this honour in the modern era.
The Royal Society is a self-governing fellowship made up of eminent scientists, engineers and technologists who are elected for life through a peer review process based on a substantial contribution to science and the improvement of natural knowledge.
Professor Wilson’s work has seen him cross the globe, examining the performance of sport animals during competition, wild African animals during hunting, and the energetics of bird flight. His work is primarily focused on how the musculoskeletal system of athletic animals is configured and used to deliver economical and high-performance locomotion, and the biomechanical factors that limit locomotor performance. His commitment to research also led him to build an aeroplane in his garden, obtain a pilot’s license, and spend a decade developing his own tracking collars so that he was able to fly across Botswana and monitor cheetahs in the wild.
His election to the world's oldest independent scientific academy reflects the pioneering results of his work and is testament to the significant number of papers he has published over the years. His research has been featured in a number of BBC documentaries, including BBC Horizon "The Secret Life of the Cat" and BBC 1's "Big Cats" series, both of which used his tracking and movement sensing collars to understand hunting and ranging behaviour to determine what makes the cheetah such an incredible predator.
Professor Wilson began his veterinary career as an undergraduate at The University of Glasgow, before undertaking a PhD in the Anatomy Department at The University of Bristol where he studied the mechanical basis of tendon injury.
In 1996, he joined the 91做厙 where he now holds the post of Professor of Locomotor Biomechanics.
Professor Alan Wilson of the 91做厙, said: “This is a very great honour for me. Research is a team effort and I thank each and every member of my research team over the years for their contribution.”
Professor Stuart Reid, Principal of the 91做厙, said: “I am delighted for Alan, for his discipline and for the profession. Having been a classmate of Alan’s in our student days, now as a colleague, it is a particular pleasure to see him recognised for his significant contributions.”
Professor Jonathan Elliott, Vice Principal for Research and Innovation at the 91做厙, said: “Alan&