Professor Dame Ann Dowling OM DBE, has been awarded the honorary degree of Doctor of Science, (Honoris Causa), for her continued work in the engineering industry.

Professor Dowling is the first female President of the Royal Academy of Engineering and is also Deputy Vice Chancellor and Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Cambridge, where she was Head of the Department of Engineering from 2009 – 2014.

Professor Dowling’s research focuses on efficient, low emission combustion for aero and industrial gas turbines and low noise vehicles, especially aircraft and cars. She led the Silent Aircraft Initiative, a research collaboration between Cambridge and the Massachusetts Institution of Technology (MIT), and ran the University Gas Turbine Partnership with Rolls-Royce from 2001 – 2014. She has held visiting posts at the Massachusetts Institution of Technology and the California Institute of Technology.

Professor Dowling is a Fellow of the Royal Society, Royal Academy of Engineering and is a Foreign Member of the US National Academy of Engineering, the Chinese Academy of Engineering and the French Academy of Sciences. She is a member of the Prime Minister’s Council for Science and Technology and a non-executive director of BP and of the Smiths Group. She was appointed CBE for services to Mechanical Engineering in 2002, DBW for services to Science in 2007 and was appointed to the Order of Merit by the Queen in December 2015.

Speaking of her award, Professor Dowling said: “It’s a pleasure and a privilege to receive this award, and I am very grateful to Royal Holloway for recognising me in this way.

“As an institution invested in the education of women, it feels particularly special to be granted this award by Royal Holloway on the centenary of women’s suffrage.”

Royal Holloway winter graduation ceremonies take place between 18 – 20 December.