Sir William Duncan Paterson Stewart FRS FRSE (born 6 June 1935) was President of the Royal Society of Edinburgh from 1999–2002 and Chairman of the Microbiological Research Authority.
He has held a number of other high-profile appointments including: Architect of the Government's Technology Foresight Programme, which was launched in 1995 and Chairman of the Independent Expert Group on Mobile Telephones and Health, which reported in 2000.
[3] He has served on numerous advisory committees, including the Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution and the Natural Environment Research Council.
Stewart was Chief Executive of the Agricultural and Food Research Council, a former Vice-President of the Royal Society of London and is a Past President of the British Association for the Advancement of Science.
Stewart is married to the former Elizabeth Smales, a senior medical officer at the Scottish Executive.