Former Director awarded OBE in King's honours

Professor Bruce Whitelaw, a former Director of the Roslin Institute and Professor of Animal Biotechnology, has been made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the King's birthday honours list.  

This accolade recognises Professor Whitelaw’s contributions to bioscience, specifically in the field of livestock genetics. 

Professor Whitelaw received a BSc degree in medical microbiology from the University of Edinburgh in 1982, and his PhD in 1987 from the University of Glasgow. 

His doctoral thesis focused on the molecular biology of gene activation; a theme he maintained throughout his career in the development and application of gene expression systems in transgenic animals. 

His first appointment was to the Agricultural and Food Research Council's Animal Breeding Research Organisation, working on the then-novel idea of producing human pharmaceutical proteins in animal bioreactors. He subsequently held a research position at the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council's Institute of Animal Physiology and Genetics Research.  

Professor Whitelaw joined the Animal Breeding Research Institute, which went on to become the Roslin Institute, as a research scientist in 1986. 

In 1994 he became a principal investigator, and in 2005 he was appointed Head of Developmental Biology, seeking to develop novel ways to tackle infectious disease in animals, evaluate new ways to study potential treatments of human disease, and enhance protein production in animals. 

In 2013, he went on to become the Institute’s Deputy Director (Partnerships). He was interim Director from 2020 to 2022, when he was appointed Director of the Roslin Institute. He retired in 2025, having served the Institute for nearly 40 years.  

Professor Whitelaw is currently Co-Director (Innovation Lead) of the Gujarat Biotechnology University and University of Edinburgh Partnership.