Angela McLean (biologist)


Dame Angela Ruth McLean is professor of mathematical biology in the Department of Zoology at the University of Oxford, and Chief Scientific Adviser to the Ministry of Defence.

Early life and education

McLean was born on 31 May 1961 in Kingston, Jamaica, the daughter of Elizabeth and Andre McLean. She was educated at Mary Datchelor Girls’ School, Camberwell, London, going on to study for a BA in mathematics at Somerville College, Oxford, graduating in 1982. In 1986 she received her PhD in biomathematics from Imperial College, London.

Career and research

In 1990, McLean became a Royal Society Research Fellow at Oxford and then, in 1994, was seconded to the Pasteur Institute in Paris. She then became head of Mathematical Biology at the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council's Institute for Animal Health and in 1994 Professor of Mathematical Biology in the Department of Zoology at Oxford.
In 2005, McLean also became director of the Institute for Emerging Infections of Humans in the James Martin 21st Century School, and in 2008 a senior research fellow in theoretical life sciences at All Souls College, Oxford.
In 2019, it was announced that McLean would be the new Chief Scientific Adviser to the Ministry of Defence, the first woman to be appointed to the post.

Honours and awards