From January 2025, the European Academy of Microbiology has a new President, Professor Kenneth Timmis, who was elected by the EAM Fellowship at the end of 2024 to replace the then President Jörg Vogel. The EAM extends its heartfelt thanks to Jörg for his service over these last four years. Furthermore, the EAM is glad to circulate the news that Juan Luis Ramos, Granada, has been elected as a new Member of the EAM Executive Board.

Kenneth Timmis Elected as EAM President

The work of Kenneth Timmis’ group has encompassed microbial pathogenesis, vaccines, environmental microbiology and microbial technology. The originality of this work has been recognised by a number of honours, including Fellowship of the Royal Society, the European Molecular Biology Organisation and the American Academy of Microbiology, and awarding of the 2001 Erwin Schrödinger Prize, the 2023 FEMS-Lwoff Award for Achievements in Microbiology, and the 2024 Norberto Palleroni Award.

He founded the International Microbiology Literacy Initiative which aims to bring the teaching of societally-relevant microbiology, sustainability and critical-systems thinking into classrooms all over the world (10.1111/1462-2920.14611, 10.1111/1751-7915.14456). His passion is advancing the understanding and application of microbial activities for societal benefit and equality (10.1111/1751-7915.14224, 10.1111/1751-7915.70068).

On commencement of his term as President, Kenneth Timmis said:

“The elected Fellows of the EAM and the groups they lead represent the best of microbiology. As we move forward, the European Academy of Microbiology (EAM) aims to transition from a collective of individual leaders to a unified force that will advance excellence in microbiology and its ability to serve humanity. To do this, it will identify and address key bottlenecks impeding progress. Its guiding principle will be ‘making a difference’.”

Juan Luis Ramos Elected as EAM Executive Board Member

Juan Luis Ramos, Granada, has been elected as a new Member of the EAM Executive Board. Professor Juan Luis Ramos of the Estación Experimental del Zaidín (EEZ), Granada, is one of the Founding Members of the Academy and the recipient of several prestigious awards including the 2012 Jaime I Prize for Environmental Protection, and the 2013 FEMS-Lwoff Award for Achievements in Microbiology.

He was Director of the Estación Experimental del Zaidín (EEZ), steering a major expansion of the Institute, and Director of Bioenergy Research of Abengoa. Juan Luis is a long time Editor-in-Chief/Editor of the journals Environmental Microbiology, Environmental Microbiology Reports, and Microbial Biotechnology. He brings to the EAM Board key expertise in the fields of environmental microbiology and biotechnology, industrial research and publishing.

EAM President, Kenneth Timmis, and EAM Secretary General, Mariagrazia Pizza, welcome Juan Luis to the Board with the words:

”We heartily congratulate Juan Luis and look forward to working with him to realise the new strategic goals of the EAM evolving from recent EAM Fellowship consultations, and to expand its impact and reach over the coming years.”

Juan Luis Ramos joins the existing EAM Executive Board alongside 7 other Fellows. We are also pleased to confirm that Jay Hinton and Birgitta Normark-Henriques have had their terms renewed for another 3-years. With these changes to the EAM Executive Board now complete, the Academy is well placed to develop its strategic plan to expand its impact and reach over the coming years.