UK New Year’s Honours highlight exceptional service to education and society

Study Group extends warm congratulations to all individuals who have been highlighted in the 2024 New Year’s Honours for their outstanding achievements in education.

University of Strathclyde, Glasgow

Congratulations to Sir Jim McDonald on the award of the Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire announced in the 2024 New Year’s Honours, the highest rank awarded for exceptional contribution to a particular field.

Sir Jim is President of the Royal Academy of Engineering and President and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Strathclyde - a leading international technological university that is committed to making a positive difference in the world. As an engineer, he has identified the factors in energy which need to be taken in consideration to achieve a decarbonised future, and he is recognised internationally as a leader in net zero innovation and building a thriving green economy.

Sir Jim is also a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Royal Academy of Engineering, Institution of Engineering and Technology and of the Institute of Physics. He was knighted in 2012 and the award of a Knight Grand Cross honours his service “to engineering, education and energy”.

Professors Roma Maguire and Yvonne Perrie have been made MBEs and Professor Gavin Halbert has been awarded an OBE for their work related to health and care and research.

• Professor Maguire is Director of the Health and Care Futures Initiative at Strathclyde University.
• Professor Perrie is Head of Strathclyde Institute of Pharmacy and Biomedical Sciences.
• Professor Halbert, is the Director of the Cancer Research UK Formulation Unit in the Strathclyde Institute of Pharmacy and Biomedical Sciences.

Durham University

Durham University Chancellor and acclaimed foreign affairs specialist, Dr Fiona Hill, has been made a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George.

The honour is for Dr Hill’s services to international relations in recognition of her work in foreign policy in the US and for maintaining close US-UK ties.  Dr Hill was born and raised in County Durham, and was installed as Chancellor in June 2023.

Royal Holloway, University of London

Royal Holloway University of London was also delighted with recognition for its leading contribution to the Arts. 

• Royal Holloway Honorary Fellow and Master of the King's Music Judith WEIR CBE was made a Dame for services to Music.
• Professor of Creative Industries Professor William Peter Saunders received an MBE for services to the Creative Industries. 

University of Aberdeen

Professor of Urological Surgery at the University of Aberdeen, Professor James N’Dow DL was awarded an OBE for services to Cancer and Urology, and for his voluntary work. Professor N’Dow founded the charity UCAN which has raised over £7 million for urology care, funding the opening of the first Urological Cancer Care Centre in Scotland and which brought the first robotics surgical system to Scotland. He also founded the Horizons Trust which supports sustainable healthcare for babies and mothers in The Gambia.

University of Leeds

Professors Paul Emery, Mark Wilcox and Peter Giannoudis, and Sir Edward Brotherton, have all been recognised for decades of ground-breaking work in the health sector.

Professor Paul Emery’s research on early intervention in inflammatory arthritis has been adopted around the world, has been awarded a CBE for services to rheumatology.

Professor Mark Wilcox, Professor of Medical Microbiology, and Sir Edward Brotherton, Chair of Bacteriology in the Faculty of Medicine and Health, have been awarded an OBE for services to healthcare, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Professor Peter Giannoudis is Professor of Trauma and Orthopaedics in the Faculty of Medicine and Health, has been awarded an MBE for services to trauma and orthopaedic surgery. He also founded a charity which helps those affected by major physical trauma to rebuild their lives.