SCOTLAND - Key Persons
Adam Smith, also known as the Father of Modern Economics, authored 'An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations' in 1776. Regarded by many as one of the most important books ever written, its basic doctrine is that labour is the true source of a nation's wealth. Smith championed individual enterprise and argued the benefits of free trade.
Sir Alex, or Fergie, has won 48 trophies as a manager, making him the most successful British football manager in history. His career in football began as an amateur player for Queen's Park when he was just 16. Until he turned professional in 1964, Sir Alex was also an apprentice tool-worker at the famous Glasgow shipyards. During his professional career he played with a number of Scottish teams, including Dunfermline and Rangers. In 1974, Ferguson moved into football management.
Bacteriologist Alexander Fleming, born in Ayrshire in 1881, won the Nobel Peace Prize after discovering Penicillin in 1928. His discovery started the antibiotic revolution, which sealed his lasting reputation in medical history.
Born in 1987 in Glasgow, Andy Murray became the world's No.1 ranked tennis player in 2016. Andy has won 46 career titles including three Grand Slam titles and two Olympic singles gold medals. Former Wimbledon champion, Andy is the UK's most successful player in the Open Era. In 2015 Andy also brought the Davis Cup back to the UK after his victory; it's the first time the cup has returned to the UK in 79 years.
Job Titles:
- Founder and Creative Director of the Edinburgh International Fashion Festival
Anna Freemantle is the founder and creative director of the Edinburgh International Fashion Festival and Mark Hogarth is the creative director for Harris Tweed Hebrides. Both are at the forefront of Scotland's bustling textiles industry.
When you have world-class textiles, it's important to also make sure you have the forum to display these products, and that's where Anna Freemantle comes in. Anna is the founder and creative director of the Edinburgh International Fashion Festival.
Anna admits that the Edinburgh International Fashion Festival came about in a very organic way. However, it has grown to become one of the highlights of Edinburgh's festival season. For four days each year, fashion's elite descend on Scotland's capital and put on a display of the latest trends at a range of beautiful and unique locations around the city - but it's not all catwalks and models.
"The approach that I took wasn't just runway shows and glamour, but also the more intelligent side behind fashion. I wanted to show the heart behind the art of fashion and so I started with symposia and lectures".
The Dutch-born supermodel admits that she was unsure of what to expect when she first arrived in Scotland, but that she was instantly enamoured with the incredible beauty she came face to face with.
Grandson of King James the VII of Scotland and II of England, Bonnie Prince Charlie, (1720 - 1788) believed he was the rightful heir to the thrones of Scotland, England and Ireland. He is best known as the instigator of the unsuccessful Jacobite uprising of 1745, which ended in defeat at the Battle of Culloden. He fled Scotland to France, where he died age 67. He became a romantic hero for the Scots and the tale of his escape with the help of Flora MacDonald, still captures the imagination.
The winner of the 2009 Women's British Open, Catriona Matthews is one of the world's best known female golfers. Hailing from North Berwick in East Lothian, she began her golfing career on the children's course at her local golf club, and went on to become the Scottish Girls' Champion in 1986. Since then she's gone on to win three LPGA tours and three European tours. Catriona still competes at the highest level of women's golf.
Philosopher of the Enlightenment, David Hume authored 'Treatise of Human Nature' when he was 28 years old. Hume's thinking and writing is still widely studied and debated today in the philosophy departments of universities across the world.
Job Titles:
- Co - Founder and CEO of Mudano
Ed Broussard is the co-founder and CEO of Mudano, a company that uses artificial intelligence and data science to help large IT projects run more effectively.
Eric Henry Liddell born to missionary parents in China, is one of Scotland's greatest sporting heroes. His life was famously portrayed in the film, Chariots of Fire. Liddell won seven international rugby caps between 1921 and 1923, before pursuing a career in athletics. He won many titles for the 100, 220 and 440 yard sprints, and was included in the Paris 1924 Olympics, where he famously did not run the 100 meter sprint, as it was held on the Sabbath.
Scottish actor, Ewan Gordon McGregor (born 31 March, 1971) is perhaps best known for his roles as Mark Renton in the 1996 film Trainspotting, the young Obi-Wan Kenobi in the Star Wars prequel trilogy and the young Camerlengo Patrick McKenna in an adaptation of Dan Brown's Angels and Demons.
In 1746, Flora helped Bonnie Prince Charlie escape Scotland after the Battle of Culloden. Aged just 24, she disguised the Prince as a woman, and took him by boat to Skye, an event recalled in the Skye Boat song. He safely escaped, but Flora was arrested and spent some time in the Tower of London. Released in 1747, she emigrated to North Carolina with her husband, but returned to Scotland in 1779. She died in 1790 and was buried on the Isle of Skye.
Harris Tweed is protected by an act of parliament. The Orb mark is pressed onto every length of cloth and seen on the traditional label affixed to finished items. The Orb signifies official Harris Tweed: handwoven by the islanders at their homes in the Outer Hebrides, finished in the Outer Hebrides, and made from pure virgin wool dyed and spun in the Outer Hebrides.
Jackie Stewart or Sir John Young Stewart OBE, better know as the Flying Scot, was born in Dumbartonshire on June 11, 1939. Between 1965 and 1973 he competed in Formula One winning three World Championships, and 27 race wins. In 2009, Jackie was ranked fifth in the 50 greatest Formula One drivers of all time.
One of the most important physicists to have ever lived, James Clerk Maxwell unified electricity, magnetism, and light in a single theory. His theory is vital to the development of radio, optical technology and the emergence of special relativity. His impact on physics is regarded as important as those of Einstein and Newton. He also contributed heavily to our understanding of colour vision and the movement of gasses.
James Andrew McAvoy (born 21 April, 1979) is a Scottish stage and screen actor. He first came to public attention in the hit UK show, Shameles s. He then went on to play Dr Nicolas Garrigan in The Last King of Scotland in 2006 and young Charles Xavier in X-men series.
Josh Littlejohn is the founder of Social Bite, a social enterprise that's dedicated to helping end homelessness in Scotland.
Kelly MacDonald (born 23 February, 1976) is famously known for her role as Diane in the film Trainspotting, which she landed after attending an open casting for the part. In 2007 MacDonald was nominated for a BAFTA Award for 'Best Actress in a Supporting Role' for her role as Carla Jean Moss in No Country for Old Men. Macdonald is also the voice of Merida in Pixar's Brave.
Larissa Slaney is a life scientist and PhD student at Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh. Her innovative research could help secure the future of the cheetah and other endangered species.
Job Titles:
- Investment Manager for the Scottish
Linda Lin is an investment manager for the Scottish investment powerhouse, Baillie Gifford, who have been operating out of Edinburgh since the early 1900's.
Job Titles:
- VP of Engineering
- VP of Engineering at FreeAgent
Maria Gutierrez is a VP of Engineering and an excellent example of Scotland's commitment to employing women in the STEM sector. Originally from Barcelona, Maria came to Scotland as a student and completely fell in love with the country.
Job Titles:
- Creative Director for Harris Tweed Hebrides
Mark Hogarth is the creative director for Harris Tweed Hebrides. His role includes not just promoting the fabric, but promoting the entire heritage of Harris Tweed. But what is it that makes this famed fabric so world-renowned? Well, Mark thinks he knows why:
Mary Queen of Scots (1542-1587) was crowned when she was just nine months old. Mary often found herself trapped between warring political factions, each trying to use her to enhance their power. Mary married three times, first to Francis, Dauphin of France, but she was to be widowed after only a year. She then married Lord Darnley, believing it would secure her children's right to the English throne, but it was a poor match. In February 1567, Darnley was found murdered in his garden.
When Olivia Giles contracted a life-threatening illness that led to her hands and feet being amputated, she dedicated her life to ensuring that the aftercare and rehabilitation she received in Scotland was made available to people in some of the world's poorest areas.
Olivia Giles was born and raised on the west coast of Scotland, attending the University of Glasgow where she graduated with a degree in Law. After graduating, she moved east, to Edinburgh, and began carving out an impressive legal career at a top law firm.
Olivia was - and still is - a self-professed workaholic, dedicated to her career and her clients and completely unaware that her life was about to change in unimaginable ways. True to form, Olivia was in the office when her illness initially struck. To her, it was just another busy Thursday afternoon. Little did she know that less than 24 hours later she would be unconscious in an intensive care unit.
Olivia had contracted Meningococcal Septicaemia, a rare and deadly disease that caused her not only to spend a month in a coma, but also have both her hands and both her feet amputated. Despite this horrific experience, Olivia immediately realised that, with the disease capable of killing in only a matter of hours, she was one of the lucky ones.
"I knew immediately that I was extremely lucky to be alive at all. It seemed to me that I'd had good fortune, rather than been unlucky, in suffering the amputations. Knowing that I was still here, still alive, still with my whole life ahead of me, seemed to be just such an amazing, lucky opportunity and that's how I received the news".
Waking up to such an extreme set of circumstances would be a challenge for any person, but Olivia emerged with a determination to focus on the positives. When she arrived at the specialist rehabilitation hospital in Edinburgh, she was completely dependent on the medical and nursing staff to do everything for her. But, six and a half months later, she literally got up one day, packed her own bags, put on her new, prosthetic legs, and walked home.
In the period that followed, Olivia realised more and more just how lucky she was. Lucky to live in a country where access to essential rehabilitation and aftercare centres was the norm - but research told her that wasn't the case everywhere.
"After I got out of hospital, I started to realise that in many places in the world where there are no limb fitting centres, or not enough of them, the absolutely fantastic rehabilitation that I experienced would simply not be available, and certainly the prosthetic and orthotic services wouldn't be".
It was this realisation that would change the course of Olivia's life, as well as the lives of thousands of amputees. In 2007, five years after her illness, she set up ‘500 Miles', a charity dedicated to getting disabled people across regions of Malawi and Zambia who have lost limbs or lost the use of their limbs up and walking again.
Olivia firmly believes that she owes her life to the medical care she received thanks to NHS Scotland and the essential infrastructure that many developing countries like Malawi and Zambia don't have access to. It's this attitude that has driven much of the work she has since done with her charity.
"The rehabilitation that I received was absolutely fantastic. I owe my life and my quality of life to NHS Scotland. The physiotherapy, occupational therapy, nursing and medical care that I received was second to none. If what happened to me had happened when I was in Malawi, there's no question that I would have died. If I did manage to survive, none of the rehabilitation that I experienced here would be available".
You might be wondering…why ‘500 Miles'? What does that have to do with prosthetics and orthotics? Well, when setting up any business - charity or otherwise - getting the right name is essential - you want something that lives long in the memory. Olivia was all too aware of this and found the perfect link with one of Scotland's most iconic bands: The Proclaimers.
Job Titles:
- Co - Founder and CEO of Spire
Peter Platzer is the co-founder and CEO of Spire, a nanosatellite and data analysis start-up company based out of San Francisco.
After studying all over the world, from India to Italy, Prof. Ravinder Dahiya chose Scotland's Glasgow University to develop his pioneering work on prosthetics.
Scotland has a well-earned reputation for providing a warm and open welcome to everyone who chooses to come here and Prof. Dahiya's research team is a perfect example of this. His team is made up of 17 different nationalities across a wide range of professions from doctors and clinicians to biologists, physicists and engineers, all working together in harmony toward a single goal that will change lives.
2018 was Scotland's Year of Young People - 18 year old Rebecca Weir is believed to be Scotland's first ever female coppersmith. learn more
Born in 1274, Robert the Bruce became King of Scotland in 1306. Edward I of England took immediate action forcing him into hiding. It's believed that during this time, Bruce saw a spider trying to build a web, and it was the spider's perseverance that inspired him to carry on fighting the English. After the death of Edward I in 1307, Bruce defeated Edward II's armies at Bannockburn in 1314. This was a turning point in the war, and Bruce was eventually victorious with the English.
Perhaps the world's best-known Scot, Sir Thomas Sean Connery (born 25 August, 1930), more commonly known as Sean Connery, was an award-winning actor who famously played the character James Bond. The former milkman, factory worker and lorry driver from Edinburgh starred in many films including The Untouchables, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. Connery was voted as "The Greatest Living Scot" and was knighted in July 2000.
is a multiple world track cycle champion and Olympic Games gold medal winner. Born in Edinburgh in 1976, Hoy is Scotland's most successful Olympian; the first Brit to win three gold medals in a single Olympic Games since 1908; and the most successful Olympic male cyclist of all time (alongside team mate Sir Bradley Wiggins). Not bad for a wee boy who started out riding a BMX.
Sir Robert Watson-Watt is considered by many to be the inventor of the radar. Although initial development had started elsewhere, it greatly expanded when Watson-Watt became superintendant of a new department of the British Air Ministry in 1936. With war looming, Watson-Watt's advances lead to the design and installation of aircraft detection and tracking stations.
After a meteoric rise to the top of her game, Stephanie Inglis suffered a terrifying accident that brought her close to death.
The visually striking and fiercely talented Scottish actress Tilda Swinton was born on November 5th, 1960, and is known for appearing in both arthouse and mainstream films. She won an Academy Award in 2008 for 'Best Supporting Actress' for her performance in Michael Clayton, and is well known for her role as the White Witch in the Chronicles of Narnia film series. Swinton also played Eva, in We Need to Talk About Kevin, a film adapted from American author Lionel Shriver's 2003 novel.
Tom Chalmers has been a member of HotScots for 5 years and he believes that Scotland was the perfect place to get the team off the ground:
"Scotland is an open, welcoming society and there has always been that level of acceptance for the club since we've been in existence. […] I think because the majority of people in Scotland are supportive, open, welcoming, we've always found it really easy to provide the opportunities that we do for our members".
Wallace is one of Scotland's most revered heroes. He began as an outlaw, but became a leader of men, taking victory over the English at Stirling Bridge in 1297. He was not of noble blood, and perhaps this is why his memory is held so dear. He was executed as a traitor in London in 1305. A number of monuments still stand to his memory in Scotland today including the Wallace National Monument just outside Stirling which also houses the sword he was reputed to wield.