Gerry McCormac, principal and vice-chancellor of the University of Stirling, has been knighted in the 2021 New Year Honours, among a range of higher education and science figures recognised.
Professor McCormac, who has led Stirling since 2010 and was recently announced as the next convener of Universities Scotland, was recognised for services to education and the economy.
Other UK vice-chancellors were also honoured in the list, including the leaders of both of Nottingham’s universities: Edward Peck, vice-chancellor of Nottingham Trent University, and Shearer West, vice-chancellor of the University of Nottingham, were appointed Commanders of the British Empire for services to higher education. Petra Wend, former vice-chancellor of Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh, was also appointed CBE.
There were knighthoods for other prominent academics including Ian Stuart, professor of structural biology at the University of Oxford; Simon Baron-Cohen, director of the Autism Research Centre at the University of Cambridge; and Dieter Helm, professor of economic policy at Oxford.
There were damehoods for Karin Barber, centennial professor of anthropology at the London School of Economics; Rachel Griffith, professor of economics at the University of Manchester; and Carol Propper, professor of economics at Imperial Business School and president of the Royal Economic Society.
Other academics to be appointed CBE include Andrew Thompson, previously chief executive of the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), for services to research; Sheila Rowan, director of the Institute for Gravitational Research and the Chief Scientific Adviser for Scotland; and Wendy Bickmore, director of the MRC Human Genetics Unit at the University of Edinburgh.
Kathleen Stock, professor of philosophy at the University of Sussex, has been appointed OBE for her services to higher education, alongside Linda Anderson, professor of modern English and American literature at Newcastle University.
Among other academics appointed OBE are Valeria Gibson, professor of high energy physics at Cambridge, for her services to science, women in science and public engagement; Dhiya Al-Jumeily, professor of artificial intelligence at Liverpool John Moores University, for services to scientific research; Joy Duxbury, professor of mental health at Manchester Metropolitan University; and historian and broadcaster Michael Wood.
