Johnians recognised in Queen’s New Year Honours
"I have made it my mission in retirement to do what I can: it’s great fun and seems to be meeting a need”
A graduate of St John’s who is spending his retirement mapping inshore areas of Scotland to make it safer for sailors to navigate has been made an MBE.
Retired engineer Robert Bradfield was recognised in the Queen’s New Year Honours for services to Navigation and Maritime Safety on the West Coast of Scotland.
Bradfield has been remapping inshore areas in Scotland, some of which haven’t been officially surveyed since 1852. These smaller areas rarely feature in detail on larger scale maps making them difficult, and potentially dangerous, for sailors to navigate.
He started the project in 2009 and has funded it himself. He explained: “As an unqualified enthusiast with limited resources I can’t produce a comprehensive set of charts to rigorous standards, but I have made it my mission in retirement to do what I can: it’s great fun and seems to be meeting a need.”
He is one of five Johnians featured on the New Year’s Honours List for their outstanding contributions to Science, Music, Education, and Navigation.
They have been awarded Orders of the British Empire – honours which are given to those of significant national standing or who have made distinguished or notable contributions in their own areas of activity.
Dr David Hill, Musical Director of the Bach Choir, was appointed MBE for Services to Music
The list also includes Dr David Hill, previously Director of Music at St John’s and currently Musical Director of the Bach Choir, Professor David Green, Vice Chancellor and Chief Executive of the University of Worcester, Dr Jennifer Schooling, Director of the Centre for Smart Infrastructure and Construction at the University of Cambridge, and Dr Ewan Birney, Director of the European Bioinformatics Institute.
Choral conductor and organist Dr David Hill was appointed MBE for Services to Music. Dr Hill was an Organ Scholar while at St John’s and has held several high-profile conducting roles since including Chief Conductor of the BBC Singers and Musical Director of the Bach Choir. He was previously the Director of Music at St John’s College, a post he held for four years.
“I am surprised, humbled and delighted to be awarded this national honour"
Professor David Green was made a CBE for his services to Higher Education.
After graduating with a degree in Economics from St John’s in 1970, Professor Green went onto lecture in Economics at London South Bank University, and has since held senior academic posts at Leeds Metropolitan University and the University of West London before becoming the Chief Executive and Vice Chancellor of the University of Worcester in 2003. He has also worked as a researcher, consultant and economist in both the private sector and for SHELTER, the campaigning charity for the homeless.
Professor David Green CBE was made a CBE for his services to Higher Education
He said: “I am surprised, humbled and delighted to be awarded this national honour. It is very much an award for the whole of the University of Worcester, whose staff, students, graduates and governors do such wonderful work.”
Dr Jennifer Mary Schooling was awarded an OBE for services to Engineering and to Digital Construction.
Dr Schooling graduated from St John’s in with a BA in Natural Sciences in 1993 and shortly afterwards completed her doctorate in Metallurgy at Darwin College, Cambridge, where she is now a Fellow. She has been the Director of the Centre for Smart Infrastructure and Construction (CSIC) in Cambridge since April 2013.
CSIC is an Innovation and Knowledge Centre (IKC) with the specific aim to transform infrastructure through smarter information. Dr Schooling and her team work with 41 Industry Partners to develop commercial technologies, tools for data analysis and asset management, best practice guidance codes and specifications for scale-up and standardisation.
Dr Jennifer Schooling has been awarded an OBE for services to Engineering and to Digital Construction. Photo credit: Lisa Millard
Dr Ewan Birney, FRS, was awarded a CBE for services to Computational Genomics and to Leadership across the Life Sciences.
Dr Birney is the joint Director of the European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL-EBI), Europe's flagship laboratory for the life sciences, and runs a small research group. He played a key role in annotating the genome sequences of human, mouse, chicken and several other organisms. He led the analysis group for the ENCODE project, which is defining functional elements in the human genome.
Published: 04/01/19