Congratulations to members of UCL’s community who have been recognised in the New Year Honours 2025. Notably, two of our distinguished professors have earned Damehoods.
Professor Ijeoma Uchegbu (UCL School of Pharmacy) has been made a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire, for services to the chemical sciences and to diversity and inclusion.
Dame Ijeoma is Chair in Pharmaceutical Nanoscience at UCL. She has had an illustrious career of research stretching from the molecular design of novel pharmaceuticals through to how these products work in practice, including designing nanosystems which deliver genes and peptides to the brain, drugs to the retina from eye drops, and that facilitate the oral absorption of hydrophobic drugs.
Dame Ijeoma is Chief Scientific Officer and co-founder of Nanomerics Ltd., which develops precision medicines that focus on reducing development costs, resources and timeline. The UCL spinout was recently awarded the prestigious King’s Award for Enterprise.
She has been a prominent ambassador for UCL and is known for her work in science public engagement and as a champion of equality and diversity, having previously served as UCL’s Pro-Vice Provost for Africa and The Middle East and as the UCL’s Provost’s Envoy for Race Equality.
Dame Ijeoma is a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences and an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry, and she has earned numerous prestigious awards throughout her career including the UK Department for Business Innovation Skills’ Women of Outstanding Achievement in Science Engineering and Technology award. She sits on Wellcome’s Board of Governors.
Dame Ijeoma commented: "I am beyond thrilled to receive this honour. In my wildest dreams, I would never have imagined it. I am very grateful and proud to have been recognised."
Professor Alison Fuller (Ioe, UCL’s Faculty of Education & Society) has been made a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire, for services to higher education.
Dame Alison is Emeritus Professor of Vocational Education and Work at UCL. She is a leading scholar with an international reputation in the field of vocational education and training and education-to-work transitions, with a particular focus on issues of quality and progression. She is regularly consulted by policy makers on vocational education and apprenticeship policy, and has advised the Department for Education on the introduction of T Level qualifications focused on vocational skills.
She was the founding Chair of UCL’s Collaborative Social Science Domain and has previously been Pro-Director (Research and Development) for the Ioe, leading on the development of structures, culture and strategies that facilitate and support world-leading educational and social research, and the vitality and sustainability of the Ioe’s research environment. Dame Alison is a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences and Member of the Academia Europaea .
Dame Alison commented: "I was hugely surprised and humbled to be recognised for my services to higher education. I am delighted to accept this honour, and on behalf of all the inspirational and committed people I have worked with and that have helped and supported me throughout my career."
Professor Louise Archer (Ioe, UCL’s Faculty of Education & Society) has been awarded an OBE for services to education.
Professor Archer is currently the Karl Mannheim Professor of Sociology of Education at UCL Ioe and co-chair of the Centre for Sociology of Education and Equity, as well as a fellow of the British Academy and the Academy of Social Sciences.
She is passionate about social justice approaches to education and the potential for academic research to ’make a difference’ to educational policy and practice. Her research seeks to understand educational identities and inequalities, particularly in relation to social class, gender and race/ethnicity across primary, secondary, higher and informal learning contexts.
Professor Archer has directed numerous large-scale national and international research studies, including the 14-year ESRC-funded ASPIRES study examining what shapes the trajectories of young people from age 10-22.
The impact of her research on supporting diversity and inclusion in STEM has also been recognised through prizes from the Royal Society (2022), ESRC (2020) and British Educational Research Association (2019).
Professor Archer said: "I feel hugely honoured by this award. I’d like to express my deepest thanks to all the fantastic colleagues, teachers, practitioners and young people whom I’ve had the privilege of working with over the years and whose commitment to advancing social justice in education has been so enriching and inspiring. I am also profoundly grateful to family and friends for their love and support, which makes it all possible."
In addition to UCL staff we congratulate the following members of our community. This list will be added to and will include alumni, funders and significant partners.
Dr Matthew Kearney, Senior Innovation Advisor at UCLPartners and a General Practitioner, has received an MBE for services to health and to the prevention of cardiovascular disease.
Professor Paul Brickell, formerly of the UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health, has received an MBE for services to the regeneration of east London. The former Professor of Molecular Haemotology changed career to contribute to the regeneration of his "home town" of east London and was most recently executive director of regeneration and community partnerships at the London Legacy Development Corporation (LLDC).
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