Structure and governance
We are incorporated by Royal Charter and a registered charity
As a charity, we are governed by our Board of Trustees who may appoint boards and committees and delegate such powers to them as it may think fit.
Our boards and committees are formed through elected representative members, who contribute to guiding and driving our strategies and activities. Find out more about them below and meet Trustees and Leadership Team, and view current vacancies and elections.
On this page:
Board of Trustees
The Board of Trustees consists of up to 18 members. Nine Trustees are elected by the membership and up to nine are appointed by the Board itself, which includes the Honorary Treasurer and those who serve as the Chairs of the Boards. The normal term of office is four years.
The Board of Trustees is chaired by our President who serves two years as President-Elect, two years as President. Our members can contact the Governance team if they wish to view Board minutes.
The President, President-Elect and Honorary Treasurer are the Honorary Officers of the Royal Society of Chemistry.
2024-2026
Annette has 35 years of international experience working within the pharmaceutical sector, including at Warner-Lambert, Pfizer and most recently GSK where she was Senior Vice President, Global Head of Product Development and Clinical Supply. She has been directly involved in the research, development and launch of over 30 new medicines in respiratory, infectious diseases, cancer and inflammatory conditions.
She is the recently appointed Chair of the Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust and is also a non-executive at the Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. She is a Trustee of St John Ambulance charity, a Council Member at Innovate UK part of UKRI and Member at the Tonbridge Grammar School Academy.
She has a BSc in Chemistry (1982) and a PhD in Organic Synthesis (1985) from Imperial College London and has conducted postdoctoral research with a NATO fellowship at Ohio State University (1985-1987).
In 2009, Annette was awarded an OBE in recognition of her services to the pharmaceutical sector. She is an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry and an Honorary Fellow of the British Pharmacological Society. She is the current President of the Royal Society of Chemistry - 2024 – 2026.
2024-2026
Chair of Inclusion and Diversity Committee
Robert Mokaya received his B.Sc. in Chemistry from the University of Nairobi in 1988 and was awarded his PhD from the University of Cambridge in 1992. Following a Research Fellowship at Trinity College, Cambridge, he was awarded an EPSRC Advanced Fellowship in 1996.
Mokaya joined the School of Chemistry at The University of Nottingham as a lecturer in Materials Chemistry in 2000 and progressed to Professor of Materials Chemistry (2008) and Pro-Vice-Chancellor Global Engagement (2019 - 2024). In 2024 he moved to the role of Provost and Deputy Vice-Chancellor at The University of Sheffield. He is a Royal Society Wolfson Research Merit Award holder (2017-2022). He was awarded OBE in 2022 for services to the Chemical Sciences and was elected Fellow of the Royal Society in 2023.
Robert's research interests are on the design, synthesis and characterisation of new forms of sustainable porous materials and the study of their structure-property relations. The research involves exploring fundamentally new synthesis methods that are simpler, cheaper, and more efficient and offer valorisation routes to materials with optimised properties for targeted sustainable energy applications.
Retires 2029
Mandy Cooke graduated from Leicester University with a BSc in Chemistry and PhD in Synthetic Organic Chemistry before moving into the Pharmaceutical Industry, where she has worked for more than 30+ years.
During her career, she has worked in a broad range of strategic leadership roles across technical governance, product quality and regulatory affairs. She is currently a Senior Quality Director at GSK in an enterprise quality oversight position - leading key strategic quality programmes across the organisation.
She has extensive advocacy and governance experience both within her organisational roles and within pharmaceutical industry associations.
Whilst her work experience is much broader than her early University education, she acknowledges that this chemistry knowledge and sound scientific basis has supported her throughout her career – thus feeding her commitment to actively contribute to the role of the RSC in enabling its’ members to succeed in their chemistry education.
She is also an experienced change leader and passionate about enabling organisations achieve their strategic vision and continually improve.
Retires 2027
Steve completed his post-graduate research in the Department of Organic Chemistry, University of Leeds, and has subsequently spent more than 34 years working in the pharmaceutical industry for global R&D organisations. He is currently a Principal Research Fellow at Quotient Sciences’ Alnwick site in the UK.
He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry and Chartered Chemist, has held the position of Secretary for the Royal Society of Chemistry NMR Discussion Group for an extended period and was Chairperson of the Chemists’ Community Fund Committee for four years. He is a member of the Formulation Forum Committee of the Society of Chemical Industry.
Steve holds an honorary professorship in the Physics Department at the University of Warwick, visiting position at the University of Leeds and an Associate Lecturer at the University of Northumbria.
He has strong interests in physical and molecular characterisation for the optimisation of pharmaceutical products, with extensive involvement in the applications of solution/solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance and magnetic resonance imaging.
Retires 2027
Professor Edwin Constable was born in Edinburgh. He studied chemistry at Oxford, where he gained a B.A. and D.Phil. He moved to the University of Cambridge where he was a University Lecturer and Fellows of Robinson College in. He remained in Cambridge until he was appointed Professor of Inorganic Chemistry at the University of Basel. After a short period at the University of Birmingham (2000-2002), he returned to the University of Basel as Professor of Chemistry in 2002.
He has over 650 peer-reviewed publications and is highly cited (25,000 citations, h-index 79) with interests covering all aspects of chemistry and the communication of science.
Edwin held an ERC Advanced Grant, was Vice-President of the University of Basel and is currently Chairman of the Swiss Academies Expert Group on Research Integrity. He was recently honoured by being elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh.
Retires 2029
Jenny graduated from the University of York with a BSc in Chemistry (1998) and a PhD in Organometallic Chemistry (2002). She joined AWE in 2003 as a Research Chemist before becoming Team Leader for Polymer Development and Characterisation.
She transitioned into a Project Management role in 2008 and has since managed a variety of projects within AWE covering materials science, underpinning technologies and in-service support. Currently, Jenny is a Senior Project Manager leading a multi-million pound Operational Capability Project which will prepare the people, plant and processes to enable UK hydrodynamic experiments to be conducted at the EPURE Facility in France.
During her 22-year career at AWE, Jenny has continued to support and promote the chemical sciences through her work with the RSC-Accredited Scheme, mentoring and interviewing candidates, and school outreach activities.
She previously sat on the RSC Admissions Committee (2015 to 2021) and the Professional Standards Board (2022 to 2025).
Retires 2029
Following a PhD in Biochemistry at the University of Bristol, Jeremy joined Shell in 1986. He held commercial and technology leadership positions in the UK, Singapore, UAE, India and Belgium, across a variety of businesses including chemicals, lubricants, fuels and new energies. Most recently, as Chief Scientist he led Shell’s innovation agenda to enable it to thrive through the energy transition, with a focus on biofuels, circular chemicals and nature-based solutions..
Since 2025, he is Royal Society Entrepreneur in Residence at the University of Manchester where he is also honorary professor in Chemistry. He is a member of the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council’s (BBSRC) committee on early career fellowships, as well as external advisory boards at the Universities of Exeter and Newcastle.
Retires 2029
Jeremy is a physical and digital chemist, obtaining BA and DPhil from University of Oxford, NATO/SERC fellowship at the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory. Appointed to a lectureship at the University of Southampton in 1984 where he is now Professor of Physical Chemistry.
He was involved in the UK e-Science and Digital Economy programmes which led to being PI of the AI for Scientific Discovery Network. He is a co-I on the Physical Science Data Infrastructure project and AIchemy AI Hub. He recently started a water-window x-ray microscopy project with the Rosalind Franklin Institute.
In the RSC, Jeremy is a committee member and former secretary of the CICAG Interest group, member of Faraday Community Council, Chair RSC IUPAC Committee, served on the Members and Communities Board and with his local section. Jeremy is vice president of the IUPAC Div 1, member of CPCDS and the Green Book.
Retires 2029
Since 2019, Marcia has been the Chief Executive of the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Medicine which is the professional body for doctors who are involved in the development, regulation and approval of new medicines that are used globally.
She gained her BSc Hons and PhD in chemistry, from Aston University in Birmingham which was a life changing experience as she was the first in her family to go to university. Her first job was with the Ministry of Defence where she worked for over twenty years, starting as a research chemist before moving into management.
Marcia is a Fellow and Chartered Chemist of the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) as well as a Fellow of the Association of Project Management. She has served on several committees for the RSC over many years. In 2023, she was awarded an honorary doctorate from Aston University in Birmingham and in 2024, she was selected for Management Today’s 2024 Women in Leadership Power List.
Retires 2027
Alex is an award-winning tech entrepreneur who divides his time between serving as CTO at Oxford nanoSystems Ltd, a nanotechnology company that develops innovative coatings for sectors including HVACR and Electrolysers. In this role, he successfully raised over £8.5m in equity and grant funding. Additionally, he holds a position at Brunel University as the Royal Society Entrepreneur in Residence, supporting the university’s hydrogen strategy and external engagement. Furthermore, Alex provides advisory services to startups in various sectors, such as nanotechnology, cleantech, biotech, and GenAI, aiding in their early-stage growth by ensuring investment readiness and developing their ongoing technology strategy.
Alex has a PhD in nanotechnology from Brunel University and over 15 years of experience in developing and commercialising advanced nanomaterials, He also serves as a Non-Executive Director of the Net Zero Technology Centre and the Oxfordshire Local Enterprise Partnership.
Previously, Alex sat on the RSC Professional Standards Board from 2019 to 2023 and was the recipient of the 2019 RSC Rising Star in Industry Award.
Retires 2027
Rehana Sidat has over 25 years of experience based in the pharmaceutical industry at GSK. An experienced Senior Leader, with a unique blend of applied experience that unites business understanding together with equitable people focus. She has a breadth and depth of experience and is known for her collaboration and influence at the C-suite level. Rehana is authentic and has sharp business acumen with proven expertise in transforming teams and leading business change across diverse disciplines. She has proven capability of building trusting partnerships to deliver strategic outcomes and is highly experienced at pragmatically managing conflict and issues objectively with an unphased approach to challenging situations and is known for her inclusiveness, courage and delivery.
Rehana’s achievements include being a recipient of the 2023 INvolve Empower Role Model List – Top 100 Executives, receiving the Top 10 Influential Muslim in Healthcare Award from Equity X 2022, and the GSK Inspirational Role Model Award 2021.
Chair of Member Communities Board, retires 2026
Jonathan Oxley graduated from Heriot Watt University with a degree in Chemistry, joining BP for a career of 24 years, latterly across the sustainable energy sector, including a secondment to the Energy Technologies Institute where he co-led a bioenergy project to underpin 2008 UK Climate Act. Jonathan was most recently at the World Energy Council, where he led their member, government and institutional engagement.
A Chartered Fellow of both the Royal Society of Chemistry and the Chartered Management Institute, Jonathan has a passion for sustainability in business and for engaging communities in a common endeavour. He is a Tallow Chandler gold medal winner, and was previously a member of the NERC Innovation Advisory Board.
Chair of Professional Standards Board, retires 2026
David Smith took up his first independent academic position at the University of Exeter, where alongside his developing interests in high-resolution spectroscopy, he began to take on first departmental and then institutional leadership roles in education.
He moved to the University of Bristol on the closure of the Chemistry department in Exeter to become the manager of the Bristol ChemLabS Centre for Excellence in Teaching and Learning. He has subsequently taken on more significant leadership roles, including as Deputy Head of the School of Chemistry.
As Education Director, he was responsible for undergraduate and taught postgraduate education for the Faculty of Science including the development and implementation of the University educational strategy, ensuring academic standards, and supporting students, as well as leading several institution-wide educational enhancement projects.
David has recently moved to Swansea University to become Pro-Vice Chancellor and Executive Dean for the Faculty of Science and Engineering.
He is committed to equality, diversity and inclusion. He is passionate about widening participation and ensuring equality of opportunity in higher education—from outreach at all levels, through developing new opportunities for students, such as degree apprenticeships and a new foundation programme, to supporting students from traditionally underrepresented groups to achieve their potential and close attainment gaps.
Chair of Publishing Board, retires 2028
Magda is currently Professor of Sustainable Energy Materials and a Royal Academy of Engineering Chair in Emerging Technologies
Following her Habilitation at the University of Potsdam/Max-Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces, Magda Titirici joined Queen Mary University of London in 2013 as a Reader and was promoted to Professor in 2014. She moved to Imperial College London in 2019.
Research in the Titirici group focusses on the design and fundamental understanding of sustainable materials for applications in energy storage and conversion from batteries beyond Li-ion to electrocatalysis for clean fuels, chemicals and electricity.
Magda has published over 350 papers, and her research has been recognised by several important awards including the RSC Corday-Morgan Prize in 2018, The Royal Society Kavli Medal and lecture in 2021, The IOM3 Griffith Medal & Prize in 2021 and the President Medal for Excellent Research team from Imperial in 2023.
She leads a large multidisciplinary and diverse research team and is an advocate for equality, inclusion and diversity in STEM collaborating with many organizations on this subject.
Leadership Team
Our Leadership Team manages the implementation and operational delivery of the Royal Society of Chemistry’s agreed strategy and programmes of activity by promoting leadership and direction and works closely with Council to ensure we are governed effectively.
Helen is a Chartered Chemist and a Chartered Scientist, with a PhD in coordination chemistry from the University of Exeter. During her thirty-year career with us, she has developed an extensive knowledge of the chemical science community across both education and industry, and has led high-profile international campaigns to address inclusion and diversity in science and the role of the chemical sciences in tackling global challenges.
Helen was appointed CEO of the RSC in 2021 and continues to be an influential advocate for the role that the chemical science community plays in making the world a better place through her leadership of an international publishing business and professional body. She is an appointed member of the Executive Board for the European Chemical Society (EuChemS).
From 2018 - 2021, Helen was Chair of the Science Council, a UK organisation for the advancement of the science profession. During this time, she led an extensive change programme to embed a new strategy. She has also chaired a sector-led group of influential organisations and overseen a significant programme, funded by the Gatsby Foundation, to increase the visibility and professional recognition of technicians in higher education. In 2020, Helen was invited to join the UK National Policy Commission looking at the future technical skills’ needs of UK higher education. This led to the establishment of the Institute for Technical Skills and Strategy (ITSS) funded by Research England. Helen is now the inaugural chair of the ITSS advisory board.
In January 2024, Helen was awarded an MBE in the King’s New Year’s Honours for her services to science.
Paul joined the Royal Society of Chemistry as Interim Chief Commercial Officer in December 2024, bringing extensive experience in product, marketing, and commercial leadership. With over 25 years in senior roles across the Telecommunications, Technology, Energy, and Data sectors, he has led large-scale business transformations, overseeing multi-billion-pound P&Ls across the UK and internationally.
Paul studied languages at university and has worked extensively across Europe, the Middle East, and the USA. His career has spanned consumer, business, and government markets, with a focus on purpose-driven organisations. At EON, he led energy solutions divisions across Europe, introducing new technologies and supporting customers in their decarbonisation efforts. Most recently, as Chief Commercial Officer at the Ordnance Survey, he led research, innovation, product development, and commercial sales, driving strategic and commercial evolution.
Rebekah joined the RSC in 2022 following a career focused on enabling organisations to improve performance through organisation development and design, the leadership of large scale and complex change, and the delivery of excellent services.
She has previously worked with a wide range of private and public sector organisations, most recently focused on developing capability-based operating models and transforming structures, processes, and cultures in senior roles across a number of UK Government departments. She is passionate about working with people to inspire ambitious change and create great places to work.
Rebekah is a proud Liverpudlian, now living in Central London.
Jo joined the Royal Society of Chemistry in 2017, having previously been responsible for developing and evaluating Cancer Research UK’s first five-year research strategy. She also led a programme of change across their UK network of centres and transformed their brand and engagement with the research community.
She has a PhD in biochemistry from the University of Cambridge.
Amanda joined the RSC in January 2020. She was formerly CIO and Director of IT, Library and Technical Services, at the Royal College of Art, where she was responsible for a broad portfolio which included digital transformation. Prior to that, Amanda held a number of roles at the National Archives, including leading Digital and Digital Archiving programmes with Central Government, so brings a wide range of experience in strategy, operational delivery, stakeholder engagement and workforce development.
Emma has more than 15 years’ experience working in the scholarly publishing sector. She has worked for both commercial and not-for-profit publishers in a variety of editorial and business development roles, joining the Royal Society of Chemistry in 2006 as a Journal Publisher.
Prior to her career in publishing, Emma was the recipient of an EMBO research fellowship after obtaining her PhD in biochemistry from Cambridge University.
Liz joined the RSC in 2024, having spent over fifteen years transforming capabilities and driving sustainable revenue growth in roles leading marketing, brand, experience and customer-centred business change. She is highly experienced in strategy development and execution; translating data-driven customer, market and business insights into more impactful, effective decision making.
Liz leads our Customer directorate, which includes data science and insight, experience, marketing, and creative services. She holds a BA in Mandarin Chinese and Business Management from the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. She gained her MBA from Cranfield School of Management, where she was the 2023 recipient of the Odger’s Prize and the Tasman Cup.
David joined us in May 2025 having previously served as Group Finance Operations Director at BSI Group (the British Standards Institution), the UK’s national standards body, which plays a key role in developing and publishing global standards, delivering certification services, and driving innovation across industries.
Throughout his career, David has held senior finance leadership roles across FTSE 100, Fortune 500, venture-backed startups, and Royal Charter organisations, across diverse locations, including Singapore, Dallas, São Paulo, and London.
Boards and committees
Finance and Resources Board
The Finance and Resources Board is established by the Board of Trustees to oversee the financial performance and investment strategies of the RSC.
Member Communities Board
Established by the Board of Trustees to ensure that the RSC has a clear voice and associated strategies for its member networks.
Professional Standards Board
The Professional Standards Board is established by the Board of Trustees to advance the RSC’s strategy as a professional body.
Vacancies and elections
Our trustees would like the members serving on our governance bodies to represent the breadth and diversity of the chemical sciences, with reference to industrial and academic backgrounds, geographical spread, gender, ethnicity, and age range.
The diagram below illustrates all of the RSC committees which feed into the Board of Trustees. See our committees section for more details.
Elections are now closed
The following candidates have been elected and will be formally announced at the Annual General Meeting on Monday 7 July 2025:
Elected Trustees
- Jenny Boxwell CSci CChem FRSC
- Jeremy Frey CChem FRSC
- Ida Marcia Philbin CChem FRSC
- Jeremy Shears FRSC
Elected member of the Member Communities Board – Early Career
- Siyuan Dong AMRSC
Elected member of the Professional Standards Board
- Dario Castiglione CSci CChem MRSC
Elected member of the Inclusion and Diversity Committee
- Jean O’Donoghue
- Mark Parry MRSC
President of the Analytical Science Community
- Victoria Hilborne MRSC
President of the Education Community
- Jacquie Robson MRSC
President of the Environment, Sustainability and Energy Community
- Kevin West CChem FRSC
Elected members of the Analytical Science Community Council
- Carol Crean FRSC
- Alistair Fielding MRSC
Elected members of the Chemistry Biology Interface Community Council
- Charlotte Dodson CChem MRSC
- Henry Egharevba MRSC
Elected members of the Dalton Community Council
- Rosa Arrigo MRSC
- Andrew Weller FRSC
Elected member of the Education Community Council
- Kristy Turner FRSC
Elected members of the Environment, Sustainability and Energy Community Council
- Gemma Shearman MRSC
- Robert Sparkes MRSC
Elected members of the Faraday Community for Physical Chemistry
- Paul Brewer CChem FRSC
- Helen Fielding CChem FRSC
Elected members of the Materials Chemistry Community Council
- Robert Dawson MRSC
- Petra Szilagyi FRSC
Elected members of the Organic Chemistry Community Council
- Edward Emmett MRSC
- Gregory Perry MRSC