Sarah Harper

She served on the  Prime Minister's Council for Science and Technology between 2014 and 2017 and in 2017 was appointed Director of the Royal Institution of Great Britain.

In 1986 Harper was elected to serve on the Executive of the British Society of Gerontology, while still a postdoctoral researcher, the youngest member ever.

In 1997 on her return to the University of Oxford, to join the Wellcome Unit for the History of Medicine, she was invited by the UK Nuffield Foundation to establish and run their new Programme on Older People.

The structure of the institute draws on Harper's vision which she outlines in her book Ageing Societies: Myths, Challenges and Opportunities,[1] published in 2006, which addresses the impact of population ageing on work, family, health and society in both the developed and less developed regions.

Harper's main focus has been engaging the wider academic and public policy community in her vision of global population ageing.

[5] She served on the Royal Society working group "People and the Planet"[6] and World Economic Forum Global Agenda Council on Ageing.

Alongside keynotes at academic conferences, Sarah has spoken at World Economic Forums in China and Australia, presented various TED and TED linked talks, is a regular speaker at Literary and Science Festivals including Hay, Edinburgh, Oxford and Cheltenham.