Anne Neville

Anne Neville, Inspirational researcher in mechanical engineering, specialising in tribology.

Engineering Achievements

Professor Neville’s research expertise covered corrosion and tribo-corrosion, lubrication and wear, mineral scaling, surgical technologies and tribology. She started working on some of these areas whilst at Heriot-Watt University.

Neville and her group moved to Leeds in 2003 where she became Director of the newly formed Institute of Functional Surfaces (iFS) which comprises 70 researchers. The institute spans many agencies and industrial sectors including medical, oil and gas & automotive.

Anne and her research group were the first to measure corrosion rates in-situ in hip joint simulators, important data for metal-on-metal implants. They used advanced microscopy x-ray spectroscopy to understand how surfaces are lubricated in industrial and medical components.

Her Life

1. 1970 Born on 21 March in Dumfries, daughter of Bill and Doris
2. app 1981 Age: 11 Educated at Maxwelltown High School, Dumfries
3. 1988 Age: 18 Matriculated in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Glasgow, graduating BEng (First Class Honours) in 1992
4. 1992-95 Age: 22-25 PhD research: "An Investigation of the Corrosion Behaviour of a Range of Materials in Marine Environments"
5. 1995 Age: 25 Lecturer, Heriot -Watt University
6. 1999 Age: 29 EPSRC Advanced Research Fellowship
7. 1999 Age: 29 Royal Society of Edinburgh’s Makdougall Brisbane Prize for particular distinction in the promotion of scientific research (the first woman winner of a prize established in 1859)
8. 2002 Age: 32 Professor, Heriot-Watt University
9. 2003 Age: 33 Royal Academy of Engineering Chair in Emerging Technologies and Professor of Tribology and Surface engineering, Leeds University and Director of the Institute of Functional Surfaces
10. 2005 Age: 35 elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh
11. 2007 Age: 37 Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Tribology – Materials, Surfaces & Interfaces journal
12. 2010 Age: 40 Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering
13. 2012 Age: 42 IMechE Donald Julius Groen Prize for Tribology
14. 2013 Age: 43 Royal Society Wolfson Research Merit Award
15. 2014 Age: 44 One of 10 EPSRC RISE (Recognising Inspirational Scientists and Engineers) Fellows
16. 2016 Age: 46 Royal Society Leverhulme Medal for revealing diverse physical and chemical processes at interacting interfaces, emphasising significant synergy between tribology and corrosion
17. 2016 Age: 46 IMechE James Clayton Prize for her work in the fields of corrosion and tribology problems in mechanical engineering in the oil industry and biomedical applications
18. 2017 Age: 46 OBE in the New Year Honours for services to engineering
19. 2017 Age: 47 Fellow of the Royal Society
20. 2017 Age: 47 Honorary Doctor of Engineering, Heriot-Watt University
21. 2019 Age: 49 Honorary Doctor of Engineering, University of Glasgow
22. 2020 Age: 50 Retired from the University of Leeds
23. 2022 Age: 52 Died at home on 7 July

Her Legacy

A great feature of Anne’s work was her boundless enthusiasm and her ability to inspire the coming generation of engineers. It is not unreasonable to say that, as well as being amongst the most influential mechanical engineers in the UK, she was and still is the No.1 role model for female mechanical engineers.

Anne is one of 383 names on Pippa Hale's Ribbons Sculpture, celebrating inspirational women of Leeds. 

The Anne Neville Lecture Theatre at the University of Leeds was named on 21 March 2025 as a tribute to her contribution in research and teaching.  

More Information

Neville, Anne (1995) An Investigation of the Corrosion Behaviour of a Range of Materials in Marine Environments PhD Thesis. University of Glasgow.  https://theses.gla.ac.uk/2865/ 

Neville, A; Morina, A; Haque, T; Voong, M (2007) Compatibility between tribological surfaces and lubricant additives—how friction and wear reduction can be controlled by surface/lube synergies Tribology international 40 (10-12), 1680-169

Neville, A., and C. Wang (2009) Erosion–corrosion mitigation by corrosion inhibitors—an assessment of mechanisms. Wear 267, no. 1-4: 195-203

Neville, A., and C. Wang. (2009) Erosion–corrosion of engineering steels—Can it be managed by use of chemicals?. Wear 267, no. 11: 2018-2026

Neville, A. (2012) Surface Scaling in the Oil and Gas Sector: Understanding the Process and Means of Management,  Energy & Fuels, 26, 4158−4166

Yan Y, Neville A, Dowson D. (2006) Understanding the role of corrosion in the degradation of metal-on-metal implants. Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part H: Journal of Engineering in Medicine;220(2):173-180

University of Leeds: Obituary: Professor Anne Neville 

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