The University of Strathclyde’s Principal, Professor Sir Jim McDonald, has been elected as an International Member of the US-based National Academy of Engineering (NAE).

Sir Jim McDonald, who is currently President of the Royal Academy of Engineering (RAEng), has become one of only 310 International Members of NAE.

Election to the National Academy of Engineering is among the highest professional distinctions accorded to an engineer. Academy membership honours those who have made outstanding contributions to:

“engineering research, practice, or education, including, where appropriate, significant contributions to the engineering literature”

and to,

“the pioneering of new and developing fields of technology, making major advancements in traditional fields of engineering, or developing/implementing innovative approaches to engineering education.”

Sir Jim McDonald and the other new members will be formally inducted during the NAE’s Annual Meeting in the United States on 2 October.

Sir Jim McDonald said:

“I am honoured and humbled to be elected an International Member of NAE, an organisation which stands for professional excellence and the highest quality of research, innovation and education in the field of engineering. “

“My fellow members represent the best of both the academic and industrial engineering professional communities from across the world; this also reflects Strathclyde’s international outlook, focus on outcomes with impact and our ethos of deep, productive industrial engagement – in short, Useful Learning. “

“We are drawn from a wide range of organisations and there is a great deal we can learn from each other. I look forward to sharing knowledge and ideas with NAE’s new and existing members. “

Sir Jim McDonald is a three-time graduate of Strathclyde having taken his BSc, MSc and PhD degrees in the area of electrical engineering, power systems and energy economics. He worked in the electrical utility sector for seven years and returned to the University of Strathclyde in 1984 as a University Grants Commission New Blood Lecturer in Electrical Engineering. He was appointed to the Rolls-Royce Chair in Electrical Power Systems in 1993 and became Principal and Vice Chancellor of Strathclyde in March 2009.

In October 2019, Sir Jim McDonald was elected President of RAEng, becoming the first Scottish holder of the office. In the Queen’s Jubilee Birthday Honours List in 2012, he was awarded a Knighthood for services to education, engineering and the economy.

Sir Jim McDonald co-chairs, with the First Minister, the Scottish Government’s Energy Advisory Board and is chair of the Independent Glasgow Economic Leadership Board.

He is a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering, the Royal Society of Edinburgh, the Institution of Engineering and Technology, the Institute of Physics, the Energy Institute, an Honorary Fellow of the Irish Academy of Engineering and a Foreign Fellow of the Chinese Society for Electrical Engineering.

He currently holds several senior non-executive business appointments on the Boards of ScottishPower, the Weir Group and the UK National Physical Laboratory. He also chairs two of the pan-Scotland university research pools in Energy and Engineering.

Founded in 1964, the US National Academy of Engineering is a private, independent, non-profit institution that provides engineering leadership in service to the nation. Its mission is to advance the well-being of the nation by promoting a vibrant engineering profession and by marshalling the expertise and insights of eminent engineers to provide independent advice to the federal government on matters involving engineering and technology.