Alumni honoured in the Queen’s Birthday Honours 2022
A number of leading University of Liverpool alumni were recently conferred with honours in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List 2022 to mark the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.
Among our distinguished alumni, Dame Ann Limb DBE CBE FRSA FCGI DL (BA Hons French 1975) was a made a Dame Commander for services to young people and philanthropy. She was previously recognised in the 2011 Birthday Honours with an OBE for public service and services to education, and again four years later with a CBE for political service.
Dame Ann, who is a Fellow Commoner at Lucy Cavendish College, University of Cambridge graduated from the University of Liverpool in 1975. A passionate advocate for the power of education, particularly as a force for social change, she went on to enjoy a successful career in further education, where she served as Principal at colleges in Milton Keynes and Cambridge, before taking up a career in the civil service. She has held a number of Chair positions throughout her career, including her current role as the independent business Chair of UK Innovation Corridor, and perhaps most notably as the first woman Chair of The Scouts between 2005 and 2021.
She founded the Helena Kennedy Foundation in 1998, a social mobility charity for young people, where she is also the current Vice President. Among her many accolades, she holds honorary doctorates from a number of respected institutions including Manchester Metropolitan University and the Open University, and is a Fellow at the Royal Society of Arts and City of Guilds and London Institute, where she is also Chair.
In 2019, Dame Ann was named in the Northern Power Women Power List as one of the 50 most influential women born in the North of England and, as an openly gay woman, has been celebrated as a role model for the LGBTQ+ community being named #1 LGBTQ+ public sector role model in the OUTstanding List in 2019.
Dame Ann said: “A butcher’s daughter born in 1950’s Moss Side does not grow up dreaming of damehood. Inspired by teachers who believed in me and nurtured by the further education system that is a powerhouse for social change, I eventually found the courage to become myself, to speak out against inequalities of all kinds in society, and to speak up for others from disadvantaged backgrounds. I want people to look at me and say to themselves ‘This person is like me’. I’d like everyone pursuing their own career to support those who follow, by remembering to ‘lift as you climb’. I accepted this honour to encourage young people, regardless of their start in life, to step up to serve humanity with kindness, compassion and in a spirit of peace building.”
Distinguished alumni
Among the other distinguished alumni honoured, Dr Heidi Thomas OBE (BA Hons English Language & Literature 1983, Hon LittD 2019), was awarded an OBE for services to drama.
Heidi is a multi-award winning screenwriter, producer and playwright. She is best known as the creator of the global hit BBC series Call the Midwife, with other works including Cranford, Upstairs Downstairs, Ballet Shoes and I Capture the Castle.
In 2019, Heidi was conferred with an honorary Doctor of Letters by the University, alongside her husband, actor and science communicator Dr Stephen McGann (Hon LittD 2019) (pictured above). She also holds an honorary degree from Edge Hill University.
And Professor Sze May Ng, OBE (MSc Medical Sciences 2005, PhD Child Health 2010, LLM 2014) (pictured below), Chair of the Association of Children's Diabetes Clinicians and Consultant Paediatric Endocrinologist, Southport and Ormskirk Hospital NHS Trust, was awarded an OBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours for her commitment to improving the care of children and young people with diabetes and young people with autism and disabilities.
The award-winning paediatrician has made a huge difference to individuals, families and communities through her work improving and delivering patient-centred diabetes care, raising awareness of autism and developing online e-learning education for healthcare professionals in the UK and internationally.
May is an associate professor at the University of Liverpool and joined Southport and Ormskirk Hospital NHS Trust in 2009 as Consultant Paediatrician and Paediatric Endocrinologist where she is also Associate Medical Director for Specialist Services. She has a long list of other accomplishments, including fundraising £50,000 for her local diabetes charity and raising more than £10,000 to raise autism awareness in the past year. In 2019 she was awarded a University of Liverpool Alumni Award.
We would like to congratulate all of our alumni who received honours in the Queen’s Birthday Honours 2022. The full list of those recognised for their outstanding contributions is detailed here:
- Miranda Barker (BSc Hons Environmental Biology 1993): CEO of East Lancashire Chamber of Commerce; OBE for services to Business and to the community in Lancashire.
- Sheena Cumiskey (BA Hons Geography 1983): Former Chief Executive of Cheshire and Wirral Partnership NHS Foundation Trust; MBE for services to Mental Health.
- Dr Andrew Furber (Diploma in Tropical Medicine and Hygiene 1995): Regional Director, North West and NHS Regional Director of Public Health, North West, Department for Health and Social Care; OBE for services to Public Health.
- Dr Stephen Hough (HonDMus 2011): Pianist; Knight Bachelor for services to Music
- Dame Ann Limb DBE CBE FRSA FCGI DL (BA Hons French 1975): Chair UK Innovation Corridor, and first woman Chair of The Scouts; Dame Commander (DBE) for services to Young People and to Philanthropy.
- Professor Sze May Ng (MSc Medical Sciences 2005, PhD Child Health 2010, LLM 2014): Chair, Association of Children's Diabetes Clinicians and Consultant Paediatric Endocrinologist, Southport and Ormskirk Hospital NHS Trust; OBE for services to People with Diabetes and People with Autism and Disabilities
- Geoffrey Pullin (BEng Hons Mechanical Engineering 1962): BEM for services to the community in Badby, Northamptonshire.
- Dr Heidi Thomas (BA Hons English Language & Literature 1983, Hon LittD 2019): Screenwriter and Playwright; OBE for services to Drama.
- Keith Williams (BA Hons Ancient & Medieval History & Archaeology 1977): Independent Chair, Williams Rail Review; CBE for services to the Railway Industry.