New Years Honours University links
Members of our University have again been recognised in The Queen’s New Year’s Honours.
Professor Sir Alec Jeffreys, who discovered genetic fingerprinting at this University, has been has been appointed as a Companion of Honour (CH).
Sir Alec, who is an Emeritus Professor of the Department of Genetics, is one of only 65 people in the world who can hold this distinction at any one time. Sir Alec is recognised for his contribution to medical research and society.
Sir Alec said: “I am delighted by this wonderful and wholly unexpected honour. More importantly it is a great tribute to genetics and forensic science and to my many colleagues in Leicester and beyond who helped turn an accidental by-product of curiosity-driven blue-skies research into technologies that have reached out and profoundly touched the lives of millions of people worldwide.”
Professor Anne Willis, Director of the MRC Toxicology Unit based at the University, also received an OBE for services to Biomedical Science and Promoting the Careers of Women in Science.
Also honoured with the Order of the Bath (CB) is Sue McAllister, Honorary Visiting Fellow in Criminology. She is recognised for services to the Northern Ireland Prison Service.
Dr Claire Breay, Honorary Visiting Fellow in the School of History, Politics and International Relations, has been awarded an MBE for services to Medieval History.
Claire is Head of Ancient, Medieval, and Early Modern Manuscripts at the British Library and co-supervises a current PhD student – Becky Lawton – with Professor Joanna Story at Leicester. Her next project is a major international exhibition at the British Library on Anglo-Saxon England, which opens in October 2018 and she will be co-editing the catalogue with Professor Story.
- This news item will be updated in the New Year with any additional information on University associations with the Honours list.