Appointments

Soraya Dhillon has been honoured for her work for the second time after she was awarded the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain Charter Gold Medal. Professor Dhillon, head of the School of Pharmacy at the University of Hertfordshire, received an MBE for her services to healthcare last year. The Charter Gold Medal recognises outstanding services in promoting the interests of pharmacy. It was granted in recognition of her work establishing collaborative links between universities in Europe and India.

David Mungall has been announced as director of development at Goldsmiths, University of London. Mr Mungall will lead the development and alumni office, which services the interests of Goldsmiths' alumni and friends, as well as being responsible for securing private philanthropic income. He has more than 11 years' experience in communications and fundraising roles in higher education organisations such as City University, London, the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama and the University of Strathclyde. Mr Mungall said: "As a proud South Londoner, by adoption, I am delighted to be joining Goldsmiths."

Stephen Porter has been named the new director of the University College London Eastman Dental Institute. He is currently professor of oral medicine and academic head of the division of maxillofacial diagnostic medical and surgical sciences at the institute. Professor Porter graduated in dentistry and biochemistry from the University of Glasgow and began his academic career at the University of Bristol, where he graduated in medicine and was awarded higher research degrees in medicine and immunology. He is a fellow in dental surgery of the Royal Colleges of Surgeons of Edinburgh and England. Professor Porter will take over from Crispian Scully, who is standing down after 15 years as dean and director of studies and research at the institute.

Jeremy Till has been appointed dean of architecture and the built environment at the University of Westminster. Professor Till, who is currently director of architecture at the University of Sheffield, will take up his appointment at the beginning of the new academic year. Also at Westminster, James Ward has been appointed director of development and Rob Fenwick has been appointed director of communications and public affairs in the marketing, communications and development department.

Paul Mageean has been appointed director of the University of Ulster's new Graduate School of Professional Legal Education. Mr Mageean, a former head of the criminal justice secretariat of the Northern Ireland Court Service, joins Ulster from his present post as inspector with Criminal Justice Inspection Northern Ireland. He is also currently working on a consultancy basis with the UN Development Programme on the modernisation of public prosecution systems in Arab countries. The graduate school at Ulster's Magee campus will this autumn have the first intake for its postgraduate diploma in legal practice.

Ralph O'Connor, a lecturer in history at the University of Aberdeen, has won the British Society for Literature and Science's annual prize for his book The Earth on Show: Fossils and the Poetics of Popular Science, 1802-1856. The book explains how 19th-century writers helped to explode traditional ideas of creation. At the turn of the century, geology was widely dismissed as dangerous nonsense, but 50 years later it was the most celebrated of Victorian sciences. Dr O'Connor said much of the discipline's success stemmed from an exciting literary style. "These science writers were very shrewd. To get the public on side they marketed spectacular visions of past worlds, piquing the public imagination with glimpses of man-eating mammoths, talking dinosaurs and sea-dragons spawned by Satan himself," he said.

Andrew Mycock has been appointed a commissioner of the new Youth Citizenship Commission. The senior lecturer in politics at the University of Huddersfield will be part of a team appointed directly by the Ministry of Justice. The group will discuss how to get young people to take an active part in society. Dr Mycock said: "Connecting young citizens with their communities and encouraging active citizenship is an important challenge, and one I look forward to being involved in."

The University of Wolverhampton has appointed a new dean of its School of Applied Sciences. John Darling will take up the post following the retirement of the present dean, Patrick Robotham. Professor Darling is professor of biomedical science and director of the Research Institute in Healthcare Sciences at Wolverhampton. He has been with the university since 2001.

Lady Justice Arden, the Court of Appeal judge, has become university visitor to Royal Holloway, University of London. She was appointed a Justice of the High Court of Justice of England and Wales in 1993 and became the first woman judge to be assigned to the Chancery Division. In 2000, she became only the third woman to be appointed to the Court of Appeal. Lady Justice Arden has supported the college for many years, and she was awarded a doctor of laws, honoris causa, in 1999, for her dedication to Royal Holloway. She will serve primarily as a figurehead and ambassador for the college, and it is anticipated that she will also lead some of its ceremonial activities.

Kenneth Norrie of the University of Strathclyde has scooped the title of Law Teacher of the Year at the annual Law Awards of Scotland. Professor Norrie, former head of Strathclyde Law School and an expert in family law, was one of three Strathclyde academics among the eight nominations. He said: "The fact that this award was decided by the votes of those who were our students is particularly pleasing to me."

Habib Ahmed, currently manager of research and development for the Islamic Banking Development Group in Saudi Arabia, has been appointed to the Sharjah chair in the Institute of Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies in the School of Government and International Affairs, Durham University. Although he comes to the role from a corporate background, Dr Ahmed has academic experience, having previously taught at the University of Connecticut, the National University of Singapore and the University of Bahrain.

Daniel Freeman from the Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London, has received the 2008 May Davidson Award from the British Psychological Society's Division of Clinical Psychology. Dr Freeman is widely regarded as one of the foremost experts in the development of the psychological understanding and treatment of paranoia.