Academic posts

Astronomy

Steven Balbus, Professeur des Universités, Classe Exceptionnelle; Member, Institut Universitaire de France; Department of Physics, Ecole Normale Supérieure de Paris, was appointed Savilian Professor of Astronomy and became a fellow of New College with effect from 1 September.

Sociology and demography

Francesco Billari, Full Professor of Demography and Vice-Rector of Development, Bocconi University and Research Fellow, Innocenzo Gasparini Institute Of Economic Research, was appointed Professor of Sociology and Demography and became a Fellow of Nuffield College with effect from 1 August 2012.

Arabic

Julia Bray, Professor of Medieval Arabic Literature, Département d’Études Arabes, UFR Langues, Littératures et Civilisations Étrangères–Langues Étrangères Appliquées, Université Paris 8 – Saint Denis, France, was appointed Laudian Professor of Arabic and became a fellow of St John’s College with effect from 1 September.

Informatics

Georg Gottlob, FRS, Professor of Computing Science at Oxford and Adjunct Professor of Computer Science at Vienna University of Technology, Austria, was appointed Professor of Informatics and became a fellow of St John’s College with effect from 11 January.

International relations

Dominic Johnson, Reader in Politics and International Relations at the University of Edinburgh and 2012–13 Senior Fellow, Centre of Theological Inquiry, Princeton University, USA, was appointed Alastair Buchan Professor of International Relations and became a fellow of St Antony’s College with effect from 1 September.

Economics

Michael Keane, ARC Laureate Professor at the University of New South Wales, Australia, was appointed Nuffield Professor of Economics and a fellow of Nuffield College with effect from 1 September.

Electrical engineering

Jong Kim, Samsung Fellow, Senior Vice President and Director, Frontier Research Lab, Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology, Samsung Electronics, South Korea was appointed Professor of Electrical Engineering and became a fellow of St Hugh’s College with effect from 5 March.

Microbial biochemistry

Colin Kleanthous, Professor of Biochemistry at the University of York, was appointed Iveagh Professor of Microbial Biochemistry and became a fellow of Linacre College with effect from 16 April.

Genomics and global health

Dominic Kwiatkowski, Professor of Tropical Paediatrics; Director, MRC Centre for Genomics & Global Health, Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics; and Head of the Malaria Programme, Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, Cambridge, appointed Professor of Genomics & Global Health and a fellow of St John’s College on 1 September.

Primary health care

Richard McManus, Senior Clinical Researcher in the Department of Primary Care Health Sciences; General Practitioner, Greenridge Surgery, Birmingham and Honorary Consultant In Primary Care, South Birmingham Primary Care Trust, was appointed Professor of Primary Health Care Sciences and a fellow of Green Templeton College with effect from 1 April.

Information engineering

Paul Newman, Reader in Engineering Science at Oxford, was appointed BP Professor of Information Engineering and became a fellow of Keble College with effect from 1 April.

Law

Robert Stevens, Professor of Commercial Law, University College London, was appointed Herbert Smith Professor of English Private Law and became a fellow of Lady Margaret Hall with effect from 1 August.

Buddhist studies

Stefano Zacchetti, Lecturer in the Department of Asian and North African Studies, Ca’ Foscari University Of Venice, Italy, was appointed Numata Professor of Buddhist Studies and became a fellow of Balliol College with effect from 1 July.

Academic year Oct 2012 - Sep 2013

Zoology

Tim Coulson, Professor of Population Biology at Imperial College London, was appointed Professor of Zoology and a fellow of Jesus College with effect from 1 January.

Sociology and social policy

Mary Daly, Professor of Sociology at Queen’s University Belfast, was appointed Professor of Sociology and Social Policy and became a fellow of Green Templeton College on 15 October.

Education

Harry Daniels, Professor of Education at the University of Bath, was appointed Professor of Education and a fellow of Green Templeton College with effect from 1 February 15 October.

Pathology

Matthew Freeman, Head of the Division of Cell Biology at the Medical Research Council Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Cambridge, was appointed Professor of Pathology and became a fellow of Lincoln College with effect From 1 January.

Chinese

Barend ter Haar, Professor of Chinese History at Leiden University, the Netherlands, has been appointed Shaw Professor of Chinese and a fellow of University College with effect from 13 January.

Education

Steve Strand, Associate Professor (Reader) In Quantitative Research Methods at the University of Warwick, was appointed Professor of Education and became a fellow of St Cross College with effect from 1 January.

Visiting Professorships

George Eastman Visiting Professor

V Kofi Agawu, Professor of Music at Princeton University, and Adjunct Professor, University of Ghana, was appointed George Eastman Visiting Professor and became a fellow of Balliol College for the academic year 2012–13.

Cameron Mackintosh Visiting Professor

Sir Michael Boyd, theatre director and artistic director of the Royal Shakespeare Company from 1996 until September 2012, has been appointed Cameron Mackintosh Visiting Professor of Contemporary Theatre with effect from January 2013. The post is based at St Catherine’s College.

John G Winant Visiting Professor

George C Edwards III, University Distinguished Professor of Political Science at Texas A&M University, has been appointed John G Winant Visiting Professors and a fellow of Balliol College for the academic year 2012–13. He is also holds the Jordan Chair in Presidential Studies and has served as the Olin Professor of American Government at Oxford.

Harold Vyvyan Harmsworth Professor of American History

Gary Gerstle, James G Stahlman Professor of American History at Vanderbilt University, USA, was appointed to the Professorship and became a fellow of The Queen’s College for the academic year 2012–13.

Newton Abraham Visiting Professor

Dan Littman, Martin Kimmel Professor of Molecular Immunology at New York University Medical Center, was appointed Newton Abraham Visiting Professor in Medical, Biological and Chemical Sciences and became a fellow of Lincoln College for a period of 6 months from 1 October 2012 until 31 March 2013.

Newton Abraham Visiting Professor

Richard Schrock, Nobel Laureate in Chemistry (2005), Frederick G Keyes Professor of Chemistry at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, was appointed Newton Abraham Visiting Professor in Medical, Biological and Chemical Sciences and became a fellow of Lincoln College for a period of 6 months from 1 April – 30 September 2013.

Slade Professor of Fine Art

Joseph Koerner, Victor S Thomas Professor of History of Art and Architecture at Harvard University, was appointed Slade Professor of Fine Art for the academic year 2012–13. The post is associated with All Souls College.

Encaenia

Aung San Suu Kyi, Chairman of the Burmese National League for Democracy and member of the Burmese parliament, received an honorary doctorate in civil law at Encaenia on Wednesday 20 June, during her first trip to Europe since 1988. Daw Suu, who spent much of the period from 1989 until 2010 in some form of detention as a result of her campaign to bring democracy to Burma, was awarded the honorary doctorate in civil law in April 1993, but until this year had been unable to receive it in person. She read PPE (Philosophy, Politics and Economics) at St Hugh's College from 1964 to 1967.
Following her degree, and in a break with tradition, Daw Suu was invited to address the ceremony. In her speech she said: ‘the most important thing for me about Oxford was not what I learnt there in terms of set texts and set books we had to read, but in terms of a respect for the best in human civilisation.' She also made reference to the other distinguished figures receiving honours in her speech, noting in particular that 'when I was under house arrest I was ... helped by the books of John le Carré ... they were a journey into the wider world; not the wider world just of other countries, but of thoughts and ideas.'

Seven leading figures from the worlds of science, the arts, intelligence and business also received honorary degrees.

The following honorary degrees were conferred at Encaenia, the Rt Hon Lord Patten of Barnes presiding:

Daw Aung San Suu Kyi

Doctors of Civil Law
‘Unbowed champion of liberty, who have given your people and the whole world an example of courage and endurance…’

Baroness Manningham-Buller

Doctors of Civil Law
former Director General of the Security Service
‘…a tenacious guardian of the nation…’

David Cornwell

Doctors of Letters
alias John le Carré, author
‘…a most skillful weaver of tales…’

Professor Drew Faust

Doctors of Letters
President of Harvard University and historian of the American Civil War and the American South
‘…a humane historian, a tireless guide of her university...’

Sir Howard Stringer

Doctors of Letters
Chairman of Sony Corporation
‘…a most skillful businessman, a true friend of this University…’

Professor Charles Taylor

Doctors of Letters
philosopher
‘Pattern of wisdom and liberality, who have analysed the nature of human community with keen intellect…’

Dr Henry Barnett

Doctors of Science
neurologist
‘Eminent master of the medical art, to whose work so many owe health and life itself…’

Professor William Phillips

Doctors of Science
physicist
‘Great master of little things, whose eye even the tiniest particles cannot escape, …’

Chancellor’s Court of Benefactors 2011/12

Eleven new members were admitted to the Court in recognition of their generosity to the collegiate University.

James P Davis

Chairman of the Kennedy Trust for Rheumatology Research, as the representative for Trust

Professor Raymond Dwek

FRS, Director of the Oxford Glycobiology Institute

David Laing

Architect and a director of Eskmuir, as the representative for the Kirby Laing Foundation

Peter Levine

Chairman and founder of Levine Capital Management

John McCall MacBain

Founder of Pamoja Capital SA and of the McCall MacBain Foundation

Charles Manby

A partner and managing director of Goldman Sachs International

S Krishna Pathak

Founder of the ABM Group of Companies in the UAE

Dickson Poon

CBE, founder of the Dickson Group of Companies in Hong Kong

Gareth Roberts

Founder and former CEO of Denbury Resources, Inc

His Excellency Sheikh Ghassan I Shaker

One of the most highly decorated personalities from the Arab world

Sir Mark Walport

FRS, FMedSci, Director and Chief Executive of The Wellcome Trust, as the representative for Trust

New Year Honours 2012

Four University members recognised:

Diarmaid MacCulloch

Professor of the History of the Church, was knighted for services to scholarship.

Geoffrey Hill

Professor of Poetry, was knighted for services to literature.

Lionel Tarassenko

Professor of Electrical and Electronic Engineering and Director of the Institute of Biomedical Engineering, was made a CBE for services to engineering.

Professor Robert Walker

Professor of Social Policy and Intervention, was made an MBE for services to social policy research.

The Queen’s Birthday Honours

Two Oxford academics were been recognised:

Lorna Casselton

FRS, Emeritus Professor of Fungal Genetics was made a CBE for her services to research and for her role as vice-president of the Royal Society.

Ann Buchanan

Director for the Oxford Centre for Research into Parenting and Children, as well Professor in Social Work was awarded an MBE for her contribution to social science research.

Royal Society

Two Oxford academics were elected Fellows of the Royal Society:

Ian Walmsley

Hooke Professor of Experimental Physics and Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Research, Academic Services and University Collections).

Dominic David Joyce

Professor of Mathematics.

British Academy

Seven Oxford academics were recently elected fellows of the British Academy. These were:

Oliver Braddick

Emeritus Professor of Experimental Psychology.

Vincent Crawford

Drummond Professor of Political Economy.

John Darwin

Beit Lecturer in the History of the Commonwealth.

Jane Humphries

Professor of Economic History.

Martin Stokes

Lecturer in Ethnomusicology.

Helen Watanabe-O'Kelly

Professor of German Literature and Chair of the Faculty of Medieval and Modern Languages.

Lucia Zedner

Professor of Criminal Justice.