Mertonians recognised in Queen’s Birthday Honours

Each year, the Queen’s Birthday Honours List recognises the accomplishments of extraordinary people across the UK and beyond. Among the 2020 recipients were four alumni of Merton who have served in a wide range of fields:

• Mr John Allen (1963), a Records Sensitivity Reviewer at the Northern Ireland Office and previously of the Ministry of Defence and the Foreign Office, was awarded an MBE for services to safeguarding.

• Professor Charles Knight (1985) is a Consultant Cardiologist and Chief Executive at St Bartholomew’s Hospital. In March 2020, he was seconded as Chief Executive Officer of NHS Nightingale Hospital in London, established to care for patients during the Covid-19 pandemic. In July 2020, he was awarded the Freedom of the City of London in acknowledgment of his role in the NHS response to the outbreak. He received an OBE for services to the NHS and people with heart disease.

• Professor Calum Semple (1992), Professor of Child Health and Outbreak Medicine at the University of Liverpool and a Consultant Respiratory Paediatrician at Alder Hey Children’s Hospital, has led studies of Covid-19, MERS, Monkeypox, Ebola, Influenza and Bronchiolitis. He is a Senior Government Clinical Advisor on the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Covid-19 response) and is a former member of the WHO Scientific Technical Advisory Committee for Ebola Emergencies (STAC-EE) as well as the UK Pandemic Flu group. He was granted an OBE for services to the Covid-19 response.

• Professor Catherine Sudlow (1988) is Professor of Neurology and Clinical Epidemiology at the University of Edinburgh, Chief Scientist at UK Biobank, and Director of the British Heart Foundation’s Data Science Centre at Health Data Research UK. Her research focuses on large-scale collaborative efforts to determine the causes of, and the effects of treatment on, common diseases of middle and older age. She was awarded an OBE for services to medical research.
   
• Mr Michael Tatham (1984) has been Deputy Ambassador to the USA since January 2018. He previously served in a number of diplomatic postings and has specialised in supporting post-communist transition processes and conflict resolution in Central and Eastern Europe and the Western Balkans. He was awarded a CMG for services to British foreign policy.

The College is extremely proud of its alumni for creating vast levels of change in their areas of expertise, as well as in their own communities.

We may have missed other Mertonians recognised in the Queen’s Birthday Honours: please do get in touch with development@merton.ox.ac.uk to let us know if this is the case.