Lord Sutherland of Houndwood
President of the Royal Society of Edinburgh

Lord Sutherland is a distinguished British scholar and public servant. He is outgoing president of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scotland's National Academy of Science & Letters. He is also a member of the House of Lords. He was knighted in 1995, inducted into the Order of the Thistle in 2002, and raised to the peerage as Baron Sutherland of Houndwood in 2001. Lord Sutherland has served as principal of the University of Edinburgh, as well as in a number of other academic posts, including vice-chancellor of the University of London and Professor of History and Philosophy of Religion at King's College, London. He holds a B.A. from Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, and an M.A. from the University of Aberdeen. He is the author of numerous books and articles on the philosophy of religion. Sutherland has also been active in a wide range of civic and educational affairs. He was formerly Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Schools in England and a member of the Board of the Higher Education Funding Council for England and the British government's Council for Science and Technology, and he chaired the Royal Commission on Long Term Care for the Elderly.

Lord Sutherland's presence on Britannica's editorial advisory board reestablishes the company's historical link to Scotland, where it was founded in 1768.