Professor Lady Sue Black

Professor Lady Black is one of the world’s leading forensic scientists and was previously the Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Engagement at Lancaster University, tasked with raising the University’s profile locally, regionally and nationally whilst championing the economic growth and regeneration of North West England. She is Visiting Professor of Forensic Anatomy in the Department of Physiology, Anatomy and Genetics at the University of Oxford. She is also Visiting Professor, Cyber Security Research Centre (Health), Security Lancaster (Academic Centre of Excellence).

Since graduating from the University of Aberdeen in Human Anatomy and Forensic Anthropology, Professor Lady Black has had a varied and distinguished academic career, lecturing in Anatomy at St Thomas’ Hospital London and working as a consultant in forensic anthropology for both the Home Office and Foreign and Commonwealth Office, undertaking forensic investigations in Iraq, Sierra Leone and Grenada. She was the lead forensic anthropologist during the international war crimes investigations in Kosovo. From 2003 to 2018 she was Professor of Anatomy and Forensic Anthropology at Dundee University.

Professor Lady Black was made a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 2016 Queen’s Birthday Honours for services to Higher Education and Forensic Science, and in 2021 entered the House of Lords as a crossbencher peer as Baroness Black of Strome. Professor Black was also the 65th President of the Royal Anthropological Institute and she is the lifetime Professor of Anatomy for the Royal Scottish Academy. In March 2024 Professor Lady Black was appointed to the Most Ancient and Most Noble Order of the Thistle, the highest honour in Scotland.

Professor Lady Black is a member of the APPG for Miscarriages of Justice and the APPG for Classics. She was a member of the Westminster Commission for Forensic Science and Miscarriages of Justice (their report, 'Forensic Science in England and Wales: Pulling out of the graveyard spiral', was published in June 2025). She was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society in 2023 and sits on several committees for the Royal Society, including their Public Engagement Committee. She is patron of three charities (Escape2Make, Locate International and Archaeology Scotland) and is also on the board of the charity, International Search & Rescue.

Professor Lady Black has received Honorary Degrees from the University of Aberdeen (2019), University of the Highlands and Islands (2023), ARU (2024), Glasgow Caledonian University (2025), and the University of Strathclyde (2025). She was also made an Honorary Fellow of Homerton College, University of Cambridge in 2024. She was appointed Honorary Colonel, 2nd Signal Squadron in July 2026.

Professor Lady Black has written widely and her most recent book, An Expert Witness (July 2026) follows on from All That Remains and Written in Bone. She has made regular media appearances, including on BBC Radio 4’s Desert Island Discs and The Life Scientific.

Photo credit: Sophie Carlarne