Dr Alejandra Guerra Castellano, a researcher at the Institute of Chemical Research (IIQ), has joined the new Governing Board of the Royal Academy of San Dionisio of Sciences, Arts and Letters in Jerez as librarian. Dr Guerra, the institution’s youngest full member, takes on this role in recognition of a career that combines research, science communication and a commitment to the preservation and dissemination of knowledge.

The Royal Academy is thus embarking on a new institutional phase with the election of Dr Ana María Orellana Cano as president; she is a judge on the Social Chamber of the Supreme Court and the first woman to hold this post in the organisation’s history. Her appointment marks a milestone in the history of an institution that is a leading figure in Andalusia’s cultural and scientific spheres.

The new Governing Board reflects a convergence of profiles from the scientific, legal and cultural spheres, reinforcing the Academy’s role in promoting knowledge and heritage.