Professor Ian Deary is a graduate of Psychology and Medicine from the University of Edinburgh, where he also took his PhD. He practised psychiatry in London and Edinburgh before moving to academic psychology. His principal research interests are: human mental abilities, the effects of ageing and medical conditions on mental skills, and the impact of cognitive ability on people's lives. He is Professor of Differential Psychology at the University of Edinburgh. He is Director of the Medical Research Council Centre for Cognitive Ageing and Cognitive Epidemiology. He is Director of the Lothian Birth Cohort studies of healthy ageing. He is an elected Fellow of the British Academy, the Royal Society of Edinburgh, the Academy of Medical Sciences, the Royal College of Psychiatrists, and the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh. He was awarded an OBE in the 2019 New Year's Honours for services to the social sciences.