Awards & Prizes

New Years Honours

Several members of the University were recognised in the 2002 New Year's Honours List. Dr Bryan Grenfell, Reader in Parasitology in the Department of Zoology, received an OBE for services to epidemiology and the control of infectious diseases. He leads a research group working on population dynamics, in particular the dynamics of infectious diseases. Last year Dr Grenfell led a team of Cambridge scientists modelling the progress of the foot-and-mouth epidemic. Their work played an important role in the control and eradication of the disease. Professor Gabriel Horn, Emeritus Professor of Zoology and former Master of Sidney Sussex College, received a Knighthood for services to neurobiology and the advancement of scientific research. A Fellow of the Royal Society Professor Horn researches the neural basis of visual recognition memory. He led a team of scientists commissioned by the government to produce an independent report on scientific research into the causes of BSE.

Professor Peter Goddard of the Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics received a CBE for services to theoretical physics. Professor Stephen Ley of the Department of Chemistry received a CBE for services to chemistry.

Dr Margaret Penston, of the Institute of Astronomy, received an MBE for services to astronomy and its popularisation. Dr Penston is Astronomy Adviser to the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority. And Sir Alistair MacFarlane received a Knighthood for his services to engineering education. Sir Alistair was Professor of Control Engineering at Cambridge from 1974-1990.

Engineering Awards

Professor Ken Wallace, in the Department of Engineering, has received two prestigious awards: the Sir Misha Black Award for Innovation in Design Education, and the American Society of Mechanical Engineers' Outstanding Design Educator Award. The Sir Misha Black Award recognises innovative teaching, course design and achievement, while the ASME award is the Society's premier Gold Medal for Engineering Design Education.

Philip Mayne, the Department's oldest member, was 102 in November 2001. To mark the occasion, members and former members of the Department rang a quarter peal on the bells of St Edward's Church. Mr Mayne graduated with First Class Honours in Mechanical Sciences in 1921 and spent most of his professional career with ICI.

MBA judged the best

The Judge Institute of Management has achieved excellent results in the latest MBA rankings issued by the Financial Times.

The Cambridge MBA is the most highly rated one year MBA programme in the United Kingdom and 2nd overall for all UK MBA programmes. The Institute was the highest new entry in the survey which ranks the top 100 international business schools out of a potential pool of 1500 institutions world wide.

The Cambridge business school's MBA programme only became eligible this year as participating schools have to have at least three cohorts of full time MBA graduates. The Institute previously provided a combination of part-time MBA courses.

In this year's FT table, the Judge Institute scored particularly well for the career progress of its MBA alumni. The degree to which its alumni have achieved levels of seniority in their respective companies was rated 3rd highest in the world. It also achieved excellent ratings for the size of its students salaries after completing the programme.

Korean Honour

Korean President Kim Dae-Jung visited the University in December to receive an honorary degree. Kim Dae-Jung, who was awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace in 2000, is one of the most significant world leaders of our time and is being honoured for his achievements in one of the most volatile areas of the world.

He has devoted the major part of his life fighting for the establishment of democracy in Korea, surviving kidnap, imprisonment and court martial. During 1993 the President spent a year in Cambridge, at Clare Hall, planning not only a return to politics but also how best to achieve the eventual unification of his country.

The Vice-Chancellor, Professor Sir Alec Broers, conferred the honorary degree at a traditional ceremony in the University's Senate-House. The visit marks a further strengthening of the ties between the University and Korea.