Alex Stanley appointed IUCr Chief Executive Officer

As reported by Dr Hanna Dabkowska in her Letter from the President in this issue of the IUCr Newsletter, the IUCr has named Dr Alex Stanley as its first Chief Executive Officer. Dr Alex Stanley will succeed Dr Alex Ashcroft, IUCr Executive Secretary, who retires at the end of August 2022.

Alex Stanley holds a PhD in Chemical Crystallography from the University of Bristol, UK, and has a good understanding of many scientific fields related to structural science. She brings experience not only from a society level, having acted as the Bursaries Co-ordinator and Secretary for the British Crystallographic Association and as a UK delegate at the IUCr General Assembly, but also from an industrial level, having worked for Agilent Technologies, Oxford Diffraction and Rigaku. Her skill base is broad as she has experience in managing people, projects and budgets, in product marketing, building a brand identity, and in governance at committee and corporate levels.

The long handover period will help in the transfer of this complex leadership role and will mean that both Alexes will attend the IUCr Executive and Finance Committee meetings in Versailles, France, in August, overlapping with ECM33.

Dr Dabkowska commented: "I am thrilled that Dr Stanley is joining our ranks. I sincerely believe that this international organisation will achieve new heights under her leadership. We are a strong team of people very proud of the job they are doing. We are happy to have Alex in control and I trust she will guide us towards many new future achievements.”

Dr Stanley commented: "I am excited to join the IUCr whose core values of community, integrity and passion for promoting high-quality structural science are so very evident. I look forward to building on the strong foundations, put in place by Alex Ashcroft and his predecessor Mike Dacombe, to support this well-regarded organisation."

Dr Ashcroft commented: "I am delighted that Alex has been appointed, and that the IUCr is in safe hands."

Dr Stanley can be contacted at ceo@iucr.org.