Sue Black, Baroness Black of Strome

Susan Margaret Black, Baroness Black of Strome, DBE, FRSE, FRAI, FRSB, FRS (née Gunn; born 7 May 1961) is a Scottish forensic anthropologist, anatomist and academic.[2] She was the Pro Vice-Chancellor for Engagement at Lancaster University[3] and is past President of the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland.[4] From 2003 to 2018 she was Professor of Anatomy and Forensic Anthropology at the University of Dundee. She is President of St John's College, Oxford.[5]

For other people named Sue Black, see Sue Black (disambiguation).

The Right Honourable
The Baroness Black of Strome
DBE FRSE FRAI FRSB FRS
Photograph of Professor Sue Black
Black at the Bloody Scotland International Crime Writing Festival, 2017
Member of the House of Lords
Lord Temporal
Assumed office
17 May 2021
Life Peerage
Personal details
Born
Susan Margaret Gunn

(1961-05-07) 7 May 1961[1]
Inverness, Scotland
NationalityBritish
Political partyNone (crossbencher)
Alma materUniversity of Aberdeen
Awards
Scientific career
Fields
Institutions
ThesisIdentification from the Human Skeleton (1986)

Education

Sue Black was born in Inverness and educated at Inverness Royal Academy.[6] She attended the University of Aberdeen where she graduated with a BSc degree with honours in human anatomy in 1982, and a PhD degree for her thesis on 'Identification from the Human Skeleton' in 1986.[6][7][8]

Career and research

In 1987 she was appointed a lecturer in Anatomy at St Thomas' Hospital, London, which started her career in forensic anthropology, serving in this role until 1992.[7][9]

Between 1992 and 2003 she undertook contract work variously for UK's Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) and the United Nations involving the identification of victims and perpetrators of various conflicts.[7] In 1999, she became the lead forensic anthropologist to the British Forensic Team in Kosovo, deployed by the FCO on behalf of the United Nations and later that year deployed to Sierra Leone and Grenada.[7][9][10]

In 2003 she undertook two tours to Iraq.[7] In 2005 she participated in the United Kingdom's contribution to the Thai Tsunami Victim Identification operation (jointly led by the Thai and Australian Disaster Victim Identification (DVI) teams) as part of the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami international response.[11]

In 2003 Black was appointed Professor of Anatomy and Forensic Anthropology at the University of Dundee.[7][12][13][14][15][16][17] In 2005, she created the Centre for Anatomy and Human Identification at the University of Dundee (CAHID),[18] which runs undergraduate courses in forensic anthropology and postgraduate courses in anatomy and advanced forensic anthropology.[19] Her department trained the UK National Disaster Victim Identification (UK DVI) team for police and scientists in advanced mortuary practices.[20]

Black has been an innovator in developing techniques and building databases to confirm or disconfirm someone's identity based on photographs of their hands or arms. This technique has become important for the prosecution of paedophiles, who often take and share photographs of their actions. In 2009, Black used vein pattern analysis to confirm the identity of a suspected child abuser, who then pled guilty. It was the first time that the technique was used in a criminal conviction.[10][21]

Black was a Director of the Centre for International Forensic Assistance[18][22][23] and a founder of the British Association for Human Identification[18][24] and the British Association for Forensic Anthropology.[18]

In June 2018, Black left Dundee for Lancaster University, where she had been appointed pro-vice-chancellor for engagement.[25][26] On 23 July 2021, it was announced that she had been elected the next President of St John's College, Oxford.[5]

Black features in a larger-than-life portrait by Ken Currie titled Unknown Man which hangs in the National Galleries of Scotland in Edinburgh.[27]

Personal life

Black is patron of a number of charities: Locate International, Archaeology Scotland, and E2M (Escape to Make). She has been married to Tom since 1993 and has three daughters: Elisabeth, Grace and Anna.

Publications

Black has authored and co-authored numerous works including:

  • 1997 Essential Anatomy for Anesthesia (co-author)[28]
  • 2000 Developmental Juvenile Osteology (co-author)[29]
  • 2004 The Juvenile Skeleton (co-author)[30]
  • 2009 Juvenile Osteology: A Laboratory and Field Manual (co-author)[31]
  • 2009 "Forensic Anthropology" in Encyclopaedia of Forensic Sciences (co-author)[32]
  • 2010 Disaster Victim Identification: The Practitioner's Guide (co-author)[33]
  • 2010 "The Neonatal Ilium—Metaphyseal drivers and neurovascular passengers" in The Anatomical Record (co-author)[34]
  • 2010 "Applying Virtual ID" in Police Professional (co-author)[35]
  • 2011 Age Estimation in the Living: The Practitioners Guide (co-author)[36]
  • 2011 Disaster Victim Identification: Experience and Practice (author)[37]
  • 2011 Forensic Anthropology: 2000 to 2010 (co-author)[38]
  • 2014 "Syrian detainee report" (co-author)[39]
  • 2018 All That Remains: A Life in Death (author)[40]
  • 2020 Written in Bone—Hidden Stories in What We Leave Behind (author)[41]

Media

Black starred in BBC Two's History Cold Case, which aired two series between 2010 and 2011.[42][43] In February 2013, she was assessed as one of the 100 Most Powerful Women in the UK by BBC Radio 4's Woman's Hour[44] and in 2014 was also subject of The Life Scientific on the same station.[12] In 2014, she appeared in the documentary "After the Wave: Ten years since the Boxing Day Tsunami" examining the forensic response in Thailand to the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami.[11]

In October 2015, Black was the guest for BBC Radio 4's Desert Island Discs. Her choices included The Corries, Glenn Miller, Gerry Rafferty, Dire Straits and Cher. Her favourite was "Highland Cathedral" by Lathallan School.[45] In July 2018 Black was the guest on BBC's Hard Talk.[46]

Black delivered the 2022 series of Royal Institution Christmas Lectures, with the title "Secrets of Forensic Science".[47]

Awards and honours

Black was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE) in 2005,[48] a Fellow of the Royal Anthropological Institute, a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and an Honorary Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow.[18] In 2008 she was awarded the Lucy Mair Medal from the Royal Anthropological Institute.[49] and a police commendation for DVI training.[18] In 2009 she was awarded the University of Aberdeen's Brian Cox Award for Public Engagement.[50][51]

Black and her team at the Centre for Anatomy and Human Identification were awarded the University of Dundee's Stephen Fry Award for Public Engagement with Research in 2012[52] and the Queen's Anniversary Award for Higher Education in 2013[53][54] and in May 2014, she was awarded a prestigious Royal Society Wolfson Research Merit Award for her research into identification from the hand.[55]

In 2001 Black was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for her services to forensic anthropology in Kosovo. She was promoted to Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in the 2016 Birthday Honours for services to forensic anthropology.[56]

In 2017 Black was presented with an honorary degree of Doctor of Medicine by University of St Andrews for her contribution to science and humanity. She received an honorary Doctorate of Science (DSc) from the University of Aberdeen in 2019, at a ceremony in which her daughter graduated in law.[57][58] In 2018 her book All That Remains: A Life in Death won the Saltire Book of the Year award.[59]

In 2021 she entered the House of Lords as a crossbencher peer,[60] after she was created a Life Peer on 26 April 2021 and taking the title of The Baroness Black of Strome.[61] Strome is in the County of Ross-shire.

In 2023, Black was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS).[62]

References
  1. "BLACK, Prof. Susan Margaret (Sue)" (Who's Who 2013, A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 2013; online edn, Oxford University Press). December 2012. Retrieved 12 June 2016.(subscription required)
  2. "Contact information for Baroness Black of Strome - MPs and Lords - UK Parliament". members.parliament.uk. Archived from the original on 27 April 2021. Retrieved 5 June 2021.
  3. "World-renowned forensic anthropologist joins Lancaster leadership team". Lancaster University. 26 January 2018. Retrieved 30 January 2018.
  4. "RAI Governance".
  5. "Professor Dame Sue Black appointed next President". News. St John's College, Oxford. 23 July 2021. Retrieved 23 July 2021.
  6. "Professor Sue Black OBE". BBC Radio 4 official website. British Broadcasting Company. Retrieved 18 January 2015.
  7. "Profile—Prof Sue Black, PhD". AcademiaNet. Retrieved 19 January 2015.
  8. Larissa Kennel and Jo Raggett (2013). Interview with Professor Sue Black. Dundee, Scotland: University of Dundee. Archived from the original on 18 January 2015. Retrieved 19 January 2015. Alt URL
  9. Bindel, Julie (30 April 2008). "The Bone Detective". The Guardian official website. London. Retrieved 19 January 2015.
  10. McDermid, Val (2015). Forensics : what bugs, burns, prints, DNA, and more tell us about crime. New York: Grove Press. pp. 166–186. ISBN 978-0802125156.
  11. Amanda Blue (14 December 2014). After the Wave: Ten years since the Boxing Day Tsunami (DVB). Flaming Star Films. ISAN 0000-0003-E52D-0000-W-0000-0000-F.
  12. "The Life Scientific—Sue Black, 25 February 2014". BBC Radio 4. British Broadcasting Company. 25 February 2014. Retrieved 15 January 2015.
  13. Sue Black, Baroness Black of Strome's publications indexed by the Scopus bibliographic database. (subscription required)
  14. Gapert, R.; Black, S.; Last, J. (2009). "Sex determination from the occipital condyle: Discriminant function analysis in an Eighteenth and Nineteenth Century British sample". American Journal of Physical Anthropology. 138 (4): 384–394. doi:10.1002/ajpa.20946. PMID 18924165.
  15. Schaefer, M.C.; Black, S.M. (2005). "Comparison of ages of epiphyseal union in North American and Bosnian skeletal material". Journal of Forensic Sciences. 50 (4): 777–84. doi:10.1520/JFS2004497. PMID 16078477.
  16. Robinson, C.; Eisma, R.; Morgan, B.; Jeffery, A.; Graham, E.A.M.; Black, S.; Rutty, G.N. (2008). "Anthropological Measurement of Lower Limb and Foot Bones Using Multi-Detector Computed Tomography". Journal of Forensic Sciences. 53 (6): 1289–1295. doi:10.1111/j.1556-4029.2008.00875.x. PMID 18798776. S2CID 37226316.
  17. Pryde, F.R.; Black, S.M. (2005). "Anatomy in Scotland: 20 years of change". Scottish Medical Journal. 50 (3): 96–98. doi:10.1177/003693300505000302. PMID 16163991. S2CID 10820992.
  18. "Professor Sue Black". University of Dundee Principal's Office. Dundee, Scotland: University of Dundee. Retrieved 18 January 2015.
  19. "Courses". Centre for Anatomy and Human Identification official website. University of Dundee. Archived from the original on 18 January 2015. Retrieved 19 January 2015.
  20. "DVI training". Centre for Anatomy and Human Identification. University of Dundee. Archived from the original on 18 January 2015. Retrieved 19 January 2015.
  21. Benson, Richard (20 September 2017). "To catch a paedophile, you only need to look at their hands". Wired UK. Retrieved 12 April 2022.
  22. "Centre for International Forensic Assistance". CIFA. 2003. Archived from the original on 3 October 2011. Retrieved 16 June 2011.
  23. Tim Thompson; Sue Black (14 November 2006). Forensic Human Identification: An Introduction. Taylor & Francis. pp. 384–. ISBN 978-0-8493-3954-7. Retrieved 18 October 2012.
  24. "About Us". BAHID official website. British Association for Human Identification. Retrieved 18 January 2015. In August of 2001 a small group of experts (led by Peter Vanezis the first President of the Association and Sue Black, the first Secretary).
  25. "Professor Dame Sue Black OBE leaving". Department of Orthopaedic & Trauma Surgery. University of Dundee. Retrieved 25 July 2021.
  26. "University Leadership: Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Engagement)". Lancaster University. Retrieved 25 July 2021.
  27. "Unknown Man".
  28. Sue M. Black; W. Alastair Chambers (1997). Essential Anatomy for Anesthesia. New York: Churchill Livingstone. ISBN 9780443050541.
  29. Louise Scheuer; Sue M. Black (2000). Developmental Juvenile Osteology. San Diego, California: Academic Press. ISBN 9780126240009.
  30. Louise Scheuer; Sue M. Black (2004). The Juvenile Skeleton. London: Elsevier Academic Press. ISBN 9780121028213.
  31. Maureen Schaefer; Louise Scheuer; Sue M. Black (2009). Juvenile Osteology: A Laboratory and Field Manual. London: Academic. ISBN 9780123746351.
  32. Patrick S. Randolph-Quinney; Xanthe Mallett; Sue M. Black (2009). "Forensic Anthropology". In Jamieson, Allan; Moenssens, Andre A. (eds.). Wiley Encyclopaedia of Forensic Sciences. Chichester, West Sussex: Wiley. ISBN 9780470018262.
  33. Sue M. Black; Graham Walker; Lucina Hackman; Clive Brooks (2010). Disaster Victim Identification: The Practitioner's Guide. Dundee: Dundee University Press. ISBN 9781845860363.
  34. C. A. Cunningham; S. M. Black (2010). "The Neonatal Ilium—Metaphyseal drivers and neurovascular passengers". Anatomical Record. 293 (8): 1297–1309. doi:10.1002/ar.21182. PMID 20665808.
  35. L. Hackman; Sue M. Black (2010). "Applying Virtual ID". Police Professional (220): 16–18.
  36. Sue M. Black; Anil Aggrawal; Jason Payne-James (2011). Age Estimation in the Living: The Practitioners Guide. Chichester: John Wiley & Sons Inc. ISBN 9780470669785.
  37. Sue M. Black (2011). Disaster Victim Identification: Experience and Practice. Boca Raton, Florida: CRC Press. ISBN 9781420094121.
  38. Sue M Black; Eilidh Ferguson (2011). Forensic Anthropology: 2000 to 2010. Boca Raton, Florida: CRC Press. ISBN 9781439845882.
  39. Desmond de Silva; Geoffrey Nice; David M. Crane; Stuart J Hamilton; Susan Black; Stephen Cole (2014). "A Report Into the Credibility of Certain Evidence with Regard to Torture and Execution of Persons Incarcerated by the Current Syrian Regime" (PDF). France at the United Nations. Permanent Mission of France to the United Nations in New York. Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 July 2014. Retrieved 18 January 2015.
  40. Sue M. Black (2018). All That Remains: A Life in Death. UK: Doubleday. ISBN 978-0857524928.
  41. publisher—Doubleday, ISBN 978-0857526908
  42. "Ipswich Man". BBC Two. BBC. 2010. Retrieved 16 June 2011.
  43. "Professor Sue Black". Centre for Anatomy and Human Identification official website. University of Dundee. Archived from the original on 18 January 2015. Retrieved 18 January 2015.
  44. "Professor Sue Black OBE" at BBC Radio 4, Woman's Hour Power list
  45. "BBC Radio 4—Desert Island Discs, Professor Sue Black". Bbc.co.uk. 23 October 2015. Retrieved 31 October 2015.
  46. "BBC World News - HARDtalk, Sue Black".
  47. "2022 Christmas Lectures". Royal Institution. Retrieved 16 December 2022.
  48. "Professor Dame Sue Black DBE, FRSE—The Royal Society of Edinburgh". The Royal Society of Edinburgh. Retrieved 18 December 2017.
  49. "Lucy Mair Medal Prior Recipients". Royal Anthropological Institute official website. Royal Anthropological Institute. Retrieved 19 January 2015.
  50. "Honours and Awards". College of Life Sciences official website. University of Dundee. Retrieved 19 January 2015.
  51. "The paradigm shift for UK forensic science—further discussion". Royal Society official website. Royal Society. Retrieved 19 January 2015.
  52. "Public Engagement Awards". University of Dundee official website. University of Dundee. 2014. Archived from the original on 18 January 2015. Retrieved 19 January 2015. The Centre for Anatomy and Human Identification were awarded the 2012 Stephen Fry Award for Excellence in Public Engagement with Research
  53. "Queen's Anniversary Prize". University of Dundee official website. University of Dundee. 2013. Retrieved 19 January 2015.
  54. "The Queen's Anniversary Prize for Higher and Further Education—Previous Prize Winners". The Royal Anniversary Trust official website. The Royal Anniversary Trust. 2013. Retrieved 19 January 2015.
  55. "Royal Society announces new round of esteemed Wolfson Research Merit Awards". Royal Society official website. London: Royal Society. 9 May 2014. Retrieved 19 January 2015. Professor Sue Black—University of Dundee, The new biometric—your life in your hands
  56. "No. 61608". The London Gazette (Supplement). 11 June 2016. p. B8.
  57. "Aberdeen University graduations: Dame Sue's joy on special occasion". Evening Express. 19 June 2019.
  58. "Family delight for law graduate Anna and Dame Sue Black". 19 June 2019.
  59. "Forensic scientist wins book award". BBC News. 30 November 2018. Retrieved 3 December 2018.
  60. Gleaves, Sean (24 April 2021). "Lancaster Professor Dame Sue Black appointed to the House of Lords". Lancashire Post. Archived from the original on 25 February 2021. Retrieved 5 June 2021.
  61. "Crown Office | The Gazette". www.thegazette.co.uk. Archived from the original on 5 June 2021. Retrieved 5 June 2021.
  62. "Sue Black". royalsociety.org. Retrieved 14 May 2023.
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