New Year Honours 2025: All those honoured in Cambridgeshire as Warren East is knighted
Cambridge professors, leaders in business and education, an Olympic gold medallist and community stalwarts are among those named in the King’s New Year Honours List 2025.
Some 120 people from the East of England have received honours in the King’s New Year Honours List, published by the Cabinet Office on Monday night (30 December).
This year’s recipients have been awarded for their outstanding contributions across all sectors, but in particular community champions and selfless giving are recognised.
Recipients from the East of England make up 10 per cent of the total number of recipients receiving honours this year.
One of the highest honours awarded - the Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire - goes to former University of Cambridge vice-chancellor Professor Sir Leszek Borysiewicz.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said: “Each and every day, ordinary people go out and do extraordinary things for their communities. They represent the very best of the UK and that core value of service which I put at the centre of everything this government does.
“The New Year Honours List celebrates more of these unsung heroes, and I thank them for their incredible contribution.”
Here are all those from Cambridgeshire honoured in the list.
Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire
Former University of Cambridge vice-chancellor Professor Sir Leszek Borysiewicz has been awarded the Knights Grand Cross for services to cancer research, clinical research, medicine and charities.
Prof Borysiewicz was appointed as chair of Cancer Research UK in November 2016 following a distinguished research career and seven-year spell as vice-chancellor of the University of Cambridge.
He was awarded a Knighthood in 2001 for his pioneering work in vaccines. This included Europe’s first trial of a vaccine for human papillomavirus to prevent cervical cancer, research conducted at the University of Cardiff and funded by Cancer Research UK. Early teenage girls are now routinely vaccinated for HPV, with the UK having among the highest uptake worldwide.
Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire
Professor Ijeoma Uchegbu, who has been president of Wolfson College at the University of Cambridge since October 2024, becomes a Dame (DBE) for services to chemical sciences and inclusion and diversity in the 2025 New Year Honours.
Prof Uchegbu is a renowned expert in the field of pharmaceutical science and was most recently Professor of Pharmaceutical Nanoscience at University College London.
She said: “I’m absolutely thrilled. I wouldn’t say I’m humbled – I know people say that, but when I saw the letter at the Porters’ Lodge what I felt was an overwhelming sense of gratitude and pride. In my wildest dreams I never believed I would get such an award.”
Knights Bachelor
Knighthood
Former Rolls-Royce boss David Arthur Warren East CBE (known as Warren East), 63, also received a knighthood for services to the economy and net zero
Mr East led the jet engine manufacturer between 2015 and 2022, steering it through a turbulent period for the aviation industry during the pandemic.
Under his leadership, Rolls-Royce achieved record cash flows in 2019 before successfully navigating through the Covid-19 disruption, and going on to, break the world speed record for electric flight and demonstrate hydrogen combustion in an aero engine. Mr East left Rolls-Royce at the end of 2022.
Stephen Fry said he is “startled and enchanted” to be awarded a knighthood in the New Year Honours and hopes it sets an example that there is “always hope”.
The actor, screenwriter and author, who attended the University of Cambridge and was involved in Cambridge Footlights, is being recognised for services to mental health awareness, the environment and to charity.
Sir Stephen, 67, has been president of the charity Mind since 2011 and since 2009 has been vice-president of conservation charity Fauna and Flora International.
He said: “When I was a child, I was expelled from a lot of schools, went to prison, and managed to get myself together to go to university, and things seemed to go right for me. And then the mental health struck, really.
“And there were all kinds of problems, including drug addiction and so on, and so fortunately, these awards are not like being made a Prefect at school where, if this, or indeed in the culture that we have now, that some historical act of stupidity stops one from being some way recognised in this manner.
“So I’d like to think that there’s hope for us all, that others who have been in the same position as me, weltering in foolish addiction or in misery, or in a confused state of not understanding why the world isn’t going well, even though everything seems to be right.
“That others might, may feel that I can at least be said to have set an example that it is possible to emerge from these things, and that there’s always hope.”
Companion of the Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George (CMG)
Professor Ashley Moffet, professor of reproductive immunology at the University of Cambridge, is made Companion of the Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George (CMG) for services to reproductive health and to clinical research and practice in Africa.
A Fellow of King’s College, she is the foremost international authority on the immunology of human reproduction and her work on genetic research has helped explain high rates of pre-eclampsia and maternal mortality in Ugandan populations. She is a Fellow of both the Academy of Medical Sciences and the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists.
She said: “I am delighted by this honour that is a tribute to the hard work and dedication of my many colleagues both here in Cambridge and in Uganda who are working together so tirelessly to support women in the field of maternal health.”
Order of the British Empire
Commanders of the Order of the British Empire
Christopher Badger, from Cambridge, is executive director of adult care services at Hertfordshire County Council. He has been made a CBE for services to adult social care.
Curator, numismatist and chair of the Treasure Valuation Committee, Dr Roger Farrant Bland OBE has been awarded a CBE for services to heritage.
Since 2015, Dr Bland has been a visiting professor at the University of Leicester and a senior fellow of the McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, University of Cambridge. He was awarded an OBE for services to heritage in 2008.
Baroness Poppy Gustafsson, 42, co-founder of tech security giant Darktrace, has been made a CBE for services to the cyber security industry.
Baroness Gustafsson was named a minister for investment at the Treasury in October as part of Keir Starmer’s new Labour Government.
Officers of the Order of the British Empire
Professor Gilly Carr is professor of conflict archaeology and holocaust heritage and has been awarded an OBE for services to holocaust research and education.
Professor Carr, a fellow of St Catharine’s College, is a member of both the UK delegation of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) and the academic advisory board for the UK Holocaust Memorial Centre.
She said: “I am absolutely thrilled for my research and teaching to be recognised in this way. I’ve been working hard on behalf of victims of Nazism and the Holocaust for 15 years and for this to be seen as nationally important and worthwhile encourages me to continue my work with vigour.”
Professor Rachel Oliver, who also receives an OBE, is a materials engineer, inventor and commercial spinout founder.
A fellow of the University of Cambridge’s Robinson College, she is currently director of the Cambridge Centre for Gallium Nitride and chief scientific officer of Poro Technologies Ltd. (Porotech).
Her research is in understanding and engineering the small-scale structure of semiconductor materials to enable new technologies to develop. Prof Oliver is a fellow of the Royal Society of Engineering and is a passionate advocate for equality, diversity and inclusion in science and engineering.
She said: “I am delighted to receive this honour and it is vital that I acknowledge the fabulous teams that I work with both in the University of Cambridge and at Porotech, a company that spun out from my research group.”
An OBE for services to international development has been awarded James ‘Jim’ Tadburn, formerly coordinator of the Cambridge-based Donor Committee for Enterprise Development (DCED).
Jim was the coordinator of the multi-donor DCED for 19 years from 2004 to 2023, and currently serves as its senior adviser.
Professor Shahina Pardhan has been awarded an OBE for services to optometry and preventing blindness. Prof Pardhan is the founding director of the Vision and Eye Research Institute based in the School of Medicine at Anglia Ruskin University. She was appointed as the first female Professor of Optometry in the UK in 2001.
Members of the Order of the British Empire
The former headteacher of the University of Cambridge Primary School, Dr James Biddulph, has been awarded an MBE for services to education.
Dr Biddulph was the founding headteacher of the University of Cambridge Primary School in 2015, which was rated outstanding in 2018. He stepped down from the role in December 2023.
Dr Biddulph is now CEO designate at the Avanti Schools Trust and will take over the role as CEO of the trust from June 2025.
He said: “Part of me thinks I just enjoy doing my job, and so it doesn’t feel like I need recognition...But it’s very good for the school. I’m very pleased – I’m honoured for my previous team as well.”
Rodney ‘Rod’ Arnold has been awarded an MBE for services to the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) and aeronautical industry.
Mr Arnold has dedicated his entire working life to supporting the UK Antarctic science community and furthering the interests of the British Antarctic Territory.
He joined BAS in 1989 as a biologist before moving through the ranks to become head of the Air Unit in 2012.
Imogen Grant, Olympic gold medallist, receives an MBE for services to rowing.
Imogen and rowing partner Emily Craig stormed to victory in the lightweight women’s double sculls at the Paris Olympics this summer, having missed out on a spot on the podium at the Tokyo games by one-hundredth of a second.
Three-time Boat Race winner Ms Grant was born in Cambridge in 1996 and raised in Bar Hill.
Ms Grant, who is also a junior doctor, was introduced to rowing during her first year of studying medicine at Trinity College, Cambridge, in 2014.
A changemaker on and off the hockey pitch, Team GB Olympian and England Hockey’s Tessa Howard (known as Tess) has been honoured for services to inclusive sportswear for women and girls.
Tessa, who receives an MBE, advocates for female players to have a choice to wear skorts or shorts after research she conducted showed that many women and girls stop playing sport due to issues with clothing.
101-year-old George Kelly, from St Ives, has been awarded an MBE for voluntary services to the Royal British Legion and to Royal Air Force Veterans.
Mr Kelly had a distinguished career as an RAF navigator which spanned 40 years and took part in operations in the Second World War, the Berlin Airlift and the Suez Crisis, and was awarded the Air Force Medal.
Since retiring from the RAF, he has given more than 40 years of selfless voluntary service to the RBL in several roles.
Actively supporting the branch committee aged 100, he has previously served as branch secretary, chair and president. His enduring contribution to the Poppy Appeal saw him become known locally as ‘The Poppy Man’.
Since 2009, the St Ives RBL Branch has raised more than £400,000 for the Poppy Appeal, testament to his outstanding leadership.
He has led the St Ives Remembrance Sunday parade robustly for more years than anyone can recall, and led the local RBL involvement in the ‘Every Man Remembered’ campaign.
He took part in the RBL’s ‘Walk 100 miles in April’ challenge, receiving a commemorative medal for his efforts.
The RBL also recently presented him with a Centenary Award to reflect his outstanding contribution and recognised him on their Centenary Wall of Honour.
An MBE has been awarded to Alastair John Kingsley, 55, from Peterborough for services to education.
Mr Kingsley has more than 30 years’ experience in the technology sector mainly working on educational technology and digital safeguarding.
For the past 25 years he has been the CEO Group of NetSupport, an international software company and over those 25 years he has worked with schools and ministries of education around the globe.
He has been a school governor for over 15 years, currently chair of Hampton Academies Trust in Peterborough.
Since December 2018, he has been chair of the Cambridge & Peterborough County SEND panel, focusing improvements across the LA special educational needs and disabilities provision.
Since 2020 he has been a member of the Department of Education, a regional advisory board in the east of England.
Dr Lam Lei Bonnie Kwok, headteacher of London Hackney Chinese Community School,has been honoured with an MBE for services to education. Dr Kwok is from Huntingdon.
Daniel Schumann, 43, receives an MBE for services to community theatre in Cambridgeshire.
Daniel created VIVA! Youth Theatre for the children of Soham when he was aged 16 in 1997.
Since then the group has helped hundreds of children and young people to develop their artistic skills as well as their self-confidence and personalities.
Daniel has worked tirelessly to harness local support to raise significant funds to renovate the old mill in Soham and create a superb theatre providing a much-needed arts community space.
Over the past 15 years, VIVA! has moved to become a theatre group for all age groups and is involved with many community initiatives in the town.
VIVA! has raised funds for, and donated to, various causes including raising money for a new Monday Drop
in Centre for the retired in an established sheltered scheme, and Cambridgeshire County Council’s Soham Neighbourhood Cares.
John Dudley Watkinson, chair of Vistage International, has received an MBE for services to business (Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire)
Food writer and journalist Beatrice Dorothy “Bee” Wilson has been honoured for services to food writing and food education.
Bee, who lives in Cambridge, writes the Table Talk column in The Wall Street Journal and is interested in how food relates to every other aspect of human life, from history to psychology to technology.
Her book Consider the Fork which explored the history of kitchen inventions, from fire to ice to pots and pans, was published in multiple languages including Spanish, Italian, German, Portuguese, Japanese, Korean, Estonian, Turkish and Chinese.
Her prize-winning book on the psychology of eating and how children’s food habits are acquired, First Bite, was published in 2015.
Medallists of the Order of the British Empire
David Richard Chambers, from Huntingdon, has been awarded a BEM (British Empire Medal) for services to music and to the community in Somersham.
Paul Michael Fellows has been awarded a BEM for services to astronomy.
A graduate of Emmanuel College, Cambridge, who came up in 1979 and stayed on in the city after completing a science degree, Paul has made an outstanding contribution towards the public understanding of science and, latterly, astronomical science, as chairman of the Cambridge Astronomical Association.
“I was totally surprised – very pleased obviously, but what a shock,” said Paul, who as a teenager got to meet the great Sir Patrick Moore, recalling how he felt when he first heard the news.
“It’s very nice to have been recognised for all the time and effort that’s gone into it. Of course that’s not why I did it – and why I still do it. I do it because I love doing it and it’s been a very good experience.”
These days, Paul is involved with Kynesim Ltd, a technology development company located on Clifton Road, Cambridge.
Malcolm John Fletcher, lately secretary, Ely Military Band, has been awarded a BEM for services to the community in Ely.
Emily Halban, co-founder of A Space Between (ASB) with Tianna Moquette Dagher, has been awarded a BEM for services to tackling isolation, loneliness and anxiety through art.
Since 2019, Emily, who was born in Geneva and has lived in the UK for 25 years, moving to Cambridge six years ago, has dedicated her time to enhancing the health and wellbeing of others with art through ASB.
Through her efforts, she has enabled the delivery of more than 10,000 creative care parcels to more than 22 hospitals across the UK.
How did Emily feel when she found out about the award? “It was quite difficult to absorb,” she admitted, “we haven’t really taken the time to either acknowledge or congratulate ourselves, between my co-founder and me.
“We’re a tiny team and we’re just not very good at taking any form of recognition, to be honest.”
Benjamin Lee Thomas Hawkins, an emergency dispatcher and community first responder, East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust, has been awarded a BEM for services to emergency care, staff wellbeing and mental health (Peterborough, Cambridgeshire)
Mark Long, from Cambridge, a founding team member and producer, Sawston Youth Drama, has been given a BEM for services to musical theatre for young people in Cambridgeshire.
