Long standing member of the Society, Professor Mary Cotter, has passed away. She was Emeritus Professor of Systems Physiology at the University of Aberdeen (UK) and served on the Council of the Society from 2001-2.

In the early 70s, she studied biological sciences at the University of Birmingham (UK), then completed a postgraduate certificate of education before undertaking a PhD in physiology. She completed a Wellcome Postdoctoral Fellowship before leaving Birmingham to help set up the nursing studies degree at the University of Hull (UK).

In 1979, she joined the University of Aberdeen (UK), where she climbed from lecturer in physiology to senior lecturer and promoted to Chair of systems physiology in 2001. She was soon appointed as the Executive Dean (Teaching) of the Faculty of Medicine and Medical Sciences. From 2003 until 2011, she acted as Director of Teaching and Learning for the College of Life Sciences and Medicine at the university.

Professor Cotter was an outstanding scientist, and a gifted and inspiring teacher. In 2010 her innovative teaching was recognised when she became the first recipient of the Society’s Otto Hutter Teaching Prize. During the same year, she also won the Simpson Medal for outstanding contribution to the teaching of medical students at the University of Aberdeen.

In 2017, she was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award by the European Association for the Study of Diabetes for her work on diabetic neuropathy together with her husband and co-worker Professor Norman Cameron.