A LAMPETER based university professor said she is “honoured” to have been named a Fellow of The Learned Society of Wales.

Professor Bettina Schmidt from the University of Wales Trinity Saint David (UWTSD) is a Professor in the Study of Religions where she teaches on the university’s Lampeter campus on the study of religions and anthropology of religions courses.

She also serves as the Director of the Alister Hardy Religious Experience Research Centre in Lampeter.

She has an academic background in Cultural Anthropology, together with Religious Studies and African Languages at the University of Marburg in Germany. In 2004 she moved to the UK and taught first at Oxford and then Bangor University before moving on to UWTSD in 2010.

Bettina has served as President of the British Association for Study of Religions and as Vice-President of TRS-UK.

Until recently she was the deputy chair of the sub-panel for Theology and Religious Studies in REF2021.

Election to the Fellowship is a public recognition of excellence, is keenly competed, and takes place following a rigorous examination of each nominee’s achievements in their relevant field.

Prof Bettina Schmidt said: “It really is an honour to be elected as a Fellow of the Learned Society of Wales and to have my academic achievements recognised in this way.

“I very much look forward to contributing to the society’s activities and work in the future.

This year, 66 new Fellows have been elected to the Learned Society of Wales. Specialisms run from aerospace engineering to the history of African Europeans, ceramic microstructures to the Baroque violin, women in surgery to the National Trust and much else in-between.

Established in 2010, the Learned Society of Wales uses the knowledge of its experts to promote research, inspire learning, and provide independent policy advice.