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Four University of Southampton staff receive Honours

Published: 28 December 2018
New Year Honours

Four University of Southampton staff members are celebrating recognition in the Queen’s New Year Honours 2018.

Professor David Martin (Geography and Environmental Science) receives an OBE (Officer of the Order of the British Empire) for services to Geography and Population Studies; Dr Stephen Wootton (Medicine) an OBE for services to nutrition and physical activity; Jocelyn Walters (Medicine) an MBE for services to cancer research and Stephen Foster, former Director of the University’s John Hansard Gallery (now an Emeritus Professor) an MBE for services to the arts.

The honours system recognises people who have made achievements in public life or committed themselves to serving and helping Britain, usually by making life better for other people or being outstanding at what they do.

Jocelyn Walters
Jocelyn Walters

Jocelyn Walters joined the University of Southampton in 2000 and built one of the first cancer research networks in the UK. She established a large team to deliver world class clinical trials, on behalf of the University (including the Centre for Cancer Immunology), Southampton General Hospital and the National Institute for Health Research, to cancer patients across Wessex. She has led hundreds of research nurses, radiographers and clinical trial assistants since then.

“I was absolutely thrilled and surprised to find out I was to receive this award. I have had the privilege of working with many amazing colleagues over the years and this award is a testament to their hard work and dedication. Back in 2000 fewer than one in 20 cancer patients took part in clinical trials in Wessex. Last year, the NHS’s 70th anniversary, the figure was closer to one in three and Wessex has consistently been one of the top performing cancer research networks in the country with 50,000 patients taking part in clinical trials since 2000. It has been a privilege to have led the team delivering these innovative treatments to more patients than ever before.”

Dr Steve Wootton
Dr Steve Wootton

Before joining the University in 1984, Dr Stephen Wootton was one of the first to apply the principles of nutritional science and exercise physiology to the preparation of elite performers as part of Sports Council funded research. He now applies the same principles to develop better ways of improving nutritional wellbeing for those about to undergo cancer treatment or treatment for chronic inflammatory disease. Dr Wootton is acknowledged as one of the principal nutrition educators in the UK in the training of nutritionists, doctors and other health professionals.

Reacting to news of his OBE, he commented: “I am delighted to receive this unexpected honour. In so many ways, it acknowledges the need to train both those responsible for the delivery of nutritional care in our health systems and those who generate the important evidence needed to inform that care. It has been a pleasure to contribute to the careers of so many young people and to work with those who have worked so hard to develop the discipline of nutritional science. I would also like to especially acknowledge the love and support of my family.”

Professor David Martin
Professor David Martin

Professor David Martin’s research in geographical information science focuses on new techniques for population mapping and has led to the system of ‘small areas’ used by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) for publication of official statistics, such as data from the ten-yearly census and the government’s Indices of Deprivation. For ten years, he was coordinator of the Economic and Social Research Council’s (ESRC) Census Programme and he is currently a co-director of the UK Data Service and National Centre for Research Methods.

Professor Martin is a Fellow of both the Royal Geographical Society and the Academy of Social Sciences. Commenting on his award, he said: “It is a huge honour to have my work recognised in this way, but this really is a tribute to some of the great people I’ve worked with in Southampton, at ONS and ESRC and in the Geography community more widely.  I like to think we have done a little to improve the work of everyone who uses contemporary UK small area population data.”

Stephen Foster retired from the University at the end of April 2017 after 30 years as Director of the John Hansard Gallery which, with his guidance, became one of the foremost galleries of contemporary art in Europe.

Stephen Foster
Stephen Foster

Under Stephen's leadership the Gallery collaborated closely with a wide range of University disciplines, and was designated ‘world-leading’ for its curatorial research. He was also instrumental in the creation of the £27m new arts complex in Southampton’s city centre, where John Hansard Gallery’s current home at Studio 144 opened in 2018. This exciting new element of Southampton’s Cultural Quarter owes much to the vision of a group of people nearly 20 years ago, one of whom was Stephen. In 2017, Stephen became the Gallery’s founding patron and on his retirement was made an Emeritus Professor.

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