New Year’s Honours for University of York staff

Posted on 31 December 2015

Two members of the University of York have been recognised in the Queen’s New Year’s Honours list.

Professor Karen Mumford, in the Department of Economics and Related Studies, is made a Commander of the British Empire for ”services to economics and labour market diversity” while Dr Adrian Whitwood, X-ray crystallographer and computing officer in the Department of Chemistry, is awarded the British Empire Medal.

Professor Mumford is a leading labour economist; she is recognised internationally for her multi-faceted approach to the study of labour market diversity. Her work on gender inequality, in particular, has informed public policy and improved the position of working women.

She has chaired the Royal Economic Society Women’s Committee from 2009. Under her leadership, the Women’s Committee has become the major advocate and facilitator for gender equity in the economics discipline.

Karen Mumford received her doctorate in economics from the Australian National University (ANU) in 1991. She has taught at the ANU, and the University of Warwick as well as York, and held visiting positions at the ANU, Dartmouth, Harvard, and Princeton. She was a member of the Resolution Foundation Minimum Wage Review Committee and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.

Dr Adrian Whitwood is recognised for his outstanding contribution to the Department of Chemistry for over 30 years. He manages the small-molecule X-ray crystallography service and supports computing throughout the Department, resulting in two University of York Rewarding Excellence awards. But his work also includes web management, undergraduate admissions, student supervision, safety, first aid, exams data processing and timetabling.

For more than 10 years Dr Whitwood has been a stalwart of the Selby St John Ambulance group, both as active first aider and youth leader.

He said: “I'm delighted and somewhat humbled to be awarded the British Empire Medal in the New Year’s Honours. I would like to thank all my colleagues especially the Chemistry support staff for making the Department such a pleasant and rewarding place to work and my wife and family for all their support and for persuading me to join them in St John Ambulance.”