Anya Christine Hurlbert,[1] also known as Viscountess Ridley (born April 1958[2]), is a British academic who is Professor of Visual Neuroscience and Dean of Advancement at Newcastle University.
She was awarded a doctorate from MIT in 1989 in the area of brain and cognitive sciences and the following year gained an MD from Harvard Medical School.
She then moved back to the UK and held a Wellcome Trust Vision Research Fellowship at Oxford University working with Andrew Parker.
[8] Hurlbert and colleagues participated in discussion about the science behind the 2015 social media event #the dress where people disagreed on whether it was black and royal blue, or white and gold in colour.
She is a member of the advisory board to the GestaltReVision Methusalem Programme, held by Johan Wagemans at KU Leuven in Belgium.