New RSE Fellows

Two professors at the University of St Andrews have been elected as Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (RSE), Scotland’s national academy.

Professor Bettina Bildhauer, from the School of Modern Languages, is a medievalist with a specialism in German-language literary texts in their multilingual, social and cultural contexts.

Professor Bildhauer’s main current research areas are the history and politics of menstruation and menopause, and queer gender in global medieval literature. She was awarded a Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel Research Award in 2020 and a Philip Leverhulme Prize in 2009.

Professor Bildhauder said: “I am frankly amazed to find myself in the company of such of illustrious scholars and public figures, present and past. It means a great deal for me as a Germanist to be part of the RSE, strengthening Scotland’s connection to Europe and the wider world. I am so pleased that the leading work of my collaborators and me in Critical Menstruation Studies and in translingual medieval studies is recognised in this way.”

Professor Vivienne Wild, from the School of Physics and Astronomy, is an astrophysicist interested in how galaxies form and evolve, working with large datasets and simulations to understand the role of galaxy collisions and starbursts in building “red and dead” elliptical galaxies, as well as the link between galaxy properties and their surrounding gaseous halos. She is also interested in the role of belonging and identity in the progression of underrepresented groups in physics, and how we to reduce the environmental impact of large astronomy infrastructure projects.

Professor Wild said: “I am honoured to have been elected to the RSE, and excited about the opportunity to be able to contribute to their education and policy programmes in the future.”