Alison Elliot

{{Short description|Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland}}

{{Infobox academic

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| name = Alison Elliot

| honorific_suffix = CBE FRSE

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| birth_date = {{birth date and age|df=y|1948|11|27}}

| birth_place = Edinburgh, Scotland

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| nationality = Scottish

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| occupation = academic session clerk

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| known_for = first woman elected as Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland

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| education = Bathgate Academy

| alma_mater = University of Edinburgh
University of Sussex

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| workplaces = University of Lancaster
University of Edinburgh

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Alison Elliot (born 27 November 1948){{Citation|title=Elliot, Dr Alison Janet, (born 27 Nov. 1948), Associate Director, Centre for Theology and Public Issues, Edinburgh University, since 2001; Convener, Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations, 2007–13|date=2007-12-01|url=http://www.ukwhoswho.com/view/10.1093/ww/9780199540884.001.0001/ww-9780199540884-e-44338|work=Who's Who|publisher=Oxford University Press|language=en|doi=10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.u44338|isbn=978-0-19-954088-4 |access-date=2019-06-28|url-access=subscription}} is an honorary fellow at New College, Edinburgh.{{Cite web|url=https://www.ed.ac.uk/profile/dr-alison-elliot|title=Dr Alison Elliot|website=The University of Edinburgh|language=en|access-date=2019-12-30}} She was the former Associate Director of the Centre for Theology and Public Issues at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland. In 2004 she became the first woman ever to be elected Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland."[eb|url=https://www.rse.org.uk/about-us/our-people/|title=People|date=2016-07-26|website=The Royal Society of About This Artwork: Jennifer McRae: Alison Elliot, b. 1948. Moderator Elect of the Church of Scotland]". Edinburgh, Scotland: National Galleries of Scotland, retrieved online 29 August 2018. An elder and session clerk at Greyfriars Kirk in Edinburgh, she was also the first non-minister to hold this post since George Buchanan in 1567.{{cn|date=September 2021}}Smith, L. (Ed.). (1996). Critical readings on Piaget. London: Routledge.

Background and education

Alison Elliot was born in Edinburgh in 1948. She was educated at Bathgate Academy, the University of Edinburgh and the University of Sussex.{{cite web |title=Dr. Alison Elliot OBE |url=https://www.wealothianwomensforum.org.uk/BreakingtheMould/aelliot.html |website=WEA Lothian Women's Forum |access-date=2 December 2021}}

Career

Her professional career is in psychology, but her public profile has been chiefly through her church work. She was Research Associate in the Department of Linguistics at the University of Edinburgh 1973–1974, then lecturer in psychology at the University of Lancaster 1974–1976 and at the University of Edinburgh 1977–1985. She is the author of two publications: Child Language (1981) and The Miraculous Everyday (2005).{{fact|date=August 2021}}

She served as Convener of the Committee on Church and Nation of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland 1996–2000, as well as Session Clerk at Greyfriars Kirk in Edinburgh. She was involved in building ecumenical relations, and was a member of the Central Committee of the Conference of European Churches (CEC) 2003-2009 (and also moderated CEC's Assembly held in Lyon, France, in July 2009). She played a key role in Action of Churches Together in Scotland. In 2004 she was elected Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland and was the first woman to be elected to that post."[https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-22575406 New Moderator Installed as General Assembly of Church of Scotland Begins]". Edinburgh, Scotland: BBC News Scotland, 18 May 2013. The OBE was conferred upon her for her ecumenical work.

In 2016, she became only the third person to receive the Scottish Public Service Awards' Lifetime Achievement Award."[http://www.churchofscotland.org.uk/news_and_events/news/2016/first_woman_moderator_to_receive_one_of_scotlands_highest_honours_for_public_service First Woman Moderator to receive one of Scotland’s highest honours for public service]". Edinburgh, Scotland: The Church of Scotland, 5 December 2016.

She is a founding board member of the Palestine Festival of Literature. Since 2007 she has been Convener of the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations.{{fact|date=August 2021}}

In 2018 she became General Secretary of The Royal Society of Edinburgh, of which she has been a Fellow since 2008.{{Cite web|url=https://www.rse.org.uk/fellow/alison-elliot/|title=Dr Alison Janet Elliot CBE, FRSE}}

Family

She is married to John Elliot; they live in Edinburgh. They have two children.{{cn|date=February 2021}}

Artistic recognition

In 2004 the Scottish National Portrait Gallery commissioned a portrait of Elliot by Jennifer McRae.The Grange Newsletter (broadsheet) May 2016"About This Artwork: Jennifer McRae: Alison Elliot, b. 1948. Moderator Elect of the Church of Scotland".

References

{{Reflist

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{{cite book

| last = Roy

| first = Christopher D.

| title = Who's Who in Scotland

| year = 2006

| edition = 2006

| publisher = Carrick Media

| location = Ayr

| isbn = 0-946724-56-3

}}