Director of Edinburgh Science to step down
Dr Simon Gage, OBE who has been involved with Edinburgh Science for three decades, and 29 of those as the CEO and Director, is to step down from the organisation after this year’s festival.
Dr Gage said: “I have decided the time is right to pass the leadership of this sensational organisation to someone else and will step down as Director in April 2024 after the 35th Edinburgh Science Festival. Most of my professional life has been given to the development and sustaining of this extraordinary educational charity and it has, without question, been the privilege of my life. We have done quite extraordinary things over 35 years in Scotland and for the last 15 years overseas. We have changed the way science engagement happens for ever.
“It has been a thrill to work in a part of the cultural landscape that, in the early nineties, needed to be invented, to have to quickly work out how to survive and then thrive in a world-class festival city. It has also been a delight to spend moments in the company of some of the greatest scientific and technological thinkers of our time, women and men that have literally revolutionised the way we see the natural world.
“And there have been many moments of fun and joy; seeing a young person in a primary classroom excited about slime or robotics, or with the public walking on hot coals, floating in a pool size piece of the Dead Sea and clambering up a giant nose. Best of all have been the moments when people get in touch to say that their visit to one of our events opened their eyes to how much they enjoyed science and technology and that they then changed the course of their life to embrace them. I feel very lucky to have been part of all of this.”
