Past President: Dr Hilary-Kay Young

Hilary-Kay Young joined the organisation in 1988 and has held numerous positions at Club, Region and Federation levels. She is a Senior Lecturer in Microbiology in the College of Life Sciences at the University of Dundee. Her career as an academic has included working with colleagues in Sweden, India, Pakistan and Chile on collaborative research and teaching initiatives.

In her spare time, Hilary-Kay enjoys volunteering and challenging herself. She works with the local committee of Save the Children and has given volunteer service in Bolivia, teaching English as a foreign language. In 2004 Hilary-Kay received the prestigious Annual Inspiration Award from the Royal Society of Edinburgh for her voluntary work engaging young people in science.

Hilary-Kay also enjoys learning about other cultures and believes this to be one of the key benefits of membership of Soroptimist International. As a Soroptimist, she has visited international projects in Thailand and Georgia, and federation projects in West Africa and the Caribbean. She particularly enjoys the opportunities offered through membership to participate in Soroptimist conferences which provide a unique forum to meet like-minded members, to increase her knowledge and understanding of global issues which affect women and girls in particular and to discuss and develop collaborative projects with clubs and members around the world.