Dame Julia is currently President of the Biochemical Society. She was Vice-Chancellor and President of the University of Kent from 2007 until 2017, the first female President of Universities UK and a member of the Prime Minister’s Council for Science and Technology. She is a fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences, Royal Society of Biology and the Institute of Physics and is an honorary member of the Biochemical Society. Julia’s scientific studies pioneered the use of computational methods to study the structures of large biologically important molecules. She became Professor of Biomolecular Sciences in 1995 at Birkbeck, University of London, where she was appointed Vice-Master from 1998 –2002. Before joining the University of Kent, Julia was Chief Executive of the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC).

Professor Richard Reece is the Deputy Vice Chancellor of Education and Student Experience and Professor of Molecular Biology at the University of Kent. He read biochemistry at The University of Leeds and did his PhD work, studying the mechanism of action of a class of bacterial enzymes called DNA topoisomerases, at the University of Leicester. Upon completion of his PhD, he spent five years undertaking post-doctoral work at Harvard University, before returning to the UK as a lecturer, senior lecturer and then professor at The University of Manchester. He moved to the University of Kent in 2020 to take up the role of Deputy Vice Chancellor.

Richard oversees the Education and Student Experience Strategy at Kent, which underpins one of the three key strategic objectives in the University Plan and looks after two large directorates - Education and Student Services. He joined the University Council as a member in August 2020 and serves as the Chair of the Board of KMTV. He chairs the University’s Sustainability Steering Group who are responsible for implementation of sustainability across the university. 

Richard’s research interests focus on the molecular mechanisms by which cells are able to alter their patterns of gene expression in response to metabolic changes in the environment. This work has involved a mixture of molecular biology, biochemistry, genetics and structural biology. He is deeply committed to raising the standards of teaching quality across higher education - both in the UK and across the world - and to promoting the public understanding of science.