JK Rowling named Scotswoman who changed the decade

The Scotsman has released a list of 10 Scotswomen who changed the decade. The list “toasts the lassies who have made such a massive impact since the turn of the century.” Unsurprisingly, Jo sits at the top of the list:

It is hard to think of a more powerful female figure to have emerged from Scotland in the past decade than JK Rowling. In 2000, Rowling was cementing her position as the world's most popular children's author with her fourth Harry Potter book, which broke all literary sales records in both the US and the UK. By 2007, Forbes magazine had ranked her the 48th most powerful celebrity in the world – not just for her enormous impact on child literacy but for her philanthropic work.

Her Volant Charitable Trust funds disadvantaged children and MS research. She is a vocal president of One Parent Families, and successfully campaigned for a law change in Romania concerning caged beds for orphans. Whatever she turns her hand to, Rowling has proved she is capable of effecting real change on a global scale.