biology

Trevor McMillan

Trevor McMillan is a biology topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Trevor McMillan rather than just read about it. In short: Trevor John McMillan (born 2 October 1959) is an English radiobiologist who was Vice-Chancellor of Keele University from 10 August 2015 to September 2025 . Early life Born in Gateshead, McMillan was educated at Birtley Lord Lawson Comprehensive School, UK before studying Biological Sciences at Lancaster University, graduating in 1981.

Key takeaways

Trevor McMillan belongs to biology; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Trevor McMillan to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Trevor McMillan from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Trevor John McMillan (born 2 October 1959) is an English radiobiologist who was Vice-Chancellor of Keele University from 10 August 2015 to September 2025 .

Early life Born in Gateshead, McMillan was educated at Birtley Lord Lawson Comprehensive School, UK before studying Biological Sciences at Lancaster University, graduating in 1981. He was awarded a PhD in Biophysics at the Institute of Cancer Research, University of London in 1984.

Career McMillan's early research was carried out at the Institute of Cancer Research/Royal Marsden Hospital and the Imperial Cancer Research Fund. McMillan has published widely on the use of X-rays in radiotherapy and the harmful effects of long wavelength UV radiation in sunlight. In particular his research has examined the role of DNA damage and repair in the efficacy of radiotherapy and the harmful cellular effects of UVA following environmentally relevant exposures. Before moving to Keele as Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Provost in January 2014, he was at Lancaster University where he had several roles including Dean of the Institute of Environmental and Natural Sciences, Head of the Department of Biological Sciences and finally Pro Vice-Chancellor for Research (2005–2014). During this time he chaired the Research and Enterprise Committee for the 1994 Group of Universities in which he led the publication of “Enterprising Universities - Using the Research Base to add Value to Business”. He also Chaired the Management Committee of the N8 Research Partnership.

Professional activities On the basis of his research, McMillan has worked on national committees that have examined the harmful effects of radiation in the environment. These included COMARE (Committee on Medical Aspects of Radiation in the Environment) for the Department of Health. He is currently on the Advisory Group for Ionising Radiation for Public Health England and the Advisory Group for the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Health Protection Research Unit (HPRU) in Chemical and Radiation Threats and Hazards at Newcastle University. He led the production of the report Circulatory Disease Risk for the AGIR. He has recently (December 2015) been announced as the Knowledge Exchange Framework champion for Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE).

Honours and awards McMillan has been awarded Honorary Fellowship of the Royal College of Radiologists and Honorary Membership of the Royal College of Physicians. He is also a Fellow of the Royal Society of Biology. He was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2022 Birthday Honours for services to higher education.

References

External links Profile at Keele University website

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Trevor McMillan

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Trevor McMillan claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In biology, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Trevor McMillan before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Trevor McMillan ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Trevor McMillan

In research: Trevor McMillan appears in biology research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Trevor McMillan in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Trevor McMillan is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1959 births, Alumni of Lancaster University, British biologists, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Trevor McMillan outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Trevor McMillan in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Trevor McMillan means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Trevor McMillan out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Trevor McMillan in simple terms?

Trevor John McMillan (born 2 October 1959) is an English radiobiologist who was Vice-Chancellor of Keele University from 10 August 2015 to September 2025 . Early life Born in Gateshead, McMillan was educated at Birtley Lord Lawson Comprehensive School, UK before studying Biological Sciences at Lanc…

Why does Trevor McMillan matter?

Because it connects several biology ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Trevor McMillan?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Trevor McMillan.