{"id":1981,"date":"2026-01-09T12:34:31","date_gmt":"2026-01-09T12:34:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/alumni-news\/?p=1981"},"modified":"2026-01-09T13:09:11","modified_gmt":"2026-01-09T13:09:11","slug":"alumni-receive-recognition-in-2026-new-year-honours-list","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/alumni-news\/2026\/01\/09\/alumni-receive-recognition-in-2026-new-year-honours-list\/","title":{"rendered":"Alumni receive recognition in 2026 New Year  Honours List"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Nine alumni and one honorary graduate of the University of Exeter received awards in the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/government\/publications\/new-year-honours-list-2026\">2026 New Year Honours List<\/a>. The honours system marks the extraordinary contributions and service of people across the UK and we&#8217;re very proud of all the members of our community who have been recognised in this way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A huge congratulations to the following:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/louise-ansari-mbe-a4091a4\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Louise Ansari<\/a> (English, 1988)\n<ul>\n<li>Non-Executive Director at NHS England and lately Chief Executive Officer at Healthwatch England.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>MBE for services to Health Equity.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/fiona-bloor-a7055621\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Fiona Bloor<\/a> (Geography, 1986)\n<ul>\n<li>Technical Lead for Geographical Aspects of Law of the Sea at the UK Hydrographic Office.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>MBE for services to the Law of the Sea.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/hilaryevans-newton-727860a1\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Hilary Evans-Newton<\/a> (BA Politics, 2002 and Hon DSc, 2017)\n<ul>\n<li>Chief Executive Officer at Alzheimer&#8217;s Research UK.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>CBE for services to Charity.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/nick-fowleruk\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Nicholas Fowler<\/a> (History and Spanish, 2002)\n<ul>\n<li>Head of Central Resilience Command at the UK Home Office.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>OBE for services to the Protection of Children.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Louise Holliday (Psychology, 2000)\n<ul>\n<li>Deputy Director at the UK Home Office.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>OBE for services to National Security.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/juliekapsalis\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Julie Kapsalis<\/a> (English, 1999)\n<ul>\n<li>Chief Executive and Principal at the North East Surrey College of Technology (NESCOT) and lately the Chair of Coast to Capital Local Enterprise Partnership.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>MBE for services to Economic Development.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/laurence-newman-bb0619b2\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Laurence Newman<\/a> (Geography, 1970)\n<ul>\n<li>Chairman at the Grove End Charitable Trust and Chairman at the Grove End Housing Ltd.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>MBE for Charitable Service.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/simon-nokes-22483323\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Simon Nokes<\/a> (Economics, 1987)\n<ul>\n<li>Director of the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority and lately Executive Director for Policy and Strategy at the Greater Manchester Combined Authority.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>MBE for services to Regional Economic Growth, Policy Development and Investment Strategies.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/amanda-pritchard-893b052a\/?originalSubdomain=uk\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Amanda Pritchard<\/a> (Hon LLD, 2023)\n<ul>\n<li>Chief Executive at Guy&#8217;s and St Thomas&#8217; NHS Foundation Trust, and lately Chief Executive, NHS England.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Damehood for services to the NHS.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/phil-wadey-51575541\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Philip Wadey<\/a> (BSc Pure Mathematics and Applied Mathematics, 1986 and PhD in Engineering Science, 1990)\n<ul>\n<li>Head of Space Ops and Engineering at Airbus and Regional Access Officer at the British Horse Society.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>MBE for services to Public Rights of Way.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Two members of the University of Exeter academic community were also recognised. <a href=\"https:\/\/news.exeter.ac.uk\/university\/cornwall-campuses\/world-leading-critical-minerals-expert-awarded-obe\/\">Frances Wall<\/a>, Professor of Applied Mineralogy at the Camborne School of Mines based at our Penryn Campus, received an OBE for services to Geoscience and Sustainable Resource Development. Leading Marine Ecologist, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/kevsterman\/?originalSubdomain=uk\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Kevin Robinson<\/a>, Honorary Lecturer at our&nbsp;Centre for Ecology and Conservation based at our Penryn Campus and Director of the Cetacean Research and Rescue Unit, was awarded a BEM for services to the Protection of UK Whales, Dolphins and Porpoises.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\"><em>If you&#8217;ve received an award, prize, or title recently do tag us on our social media channels, or let us know via <a href=\"mailto:alumni@exeter.ac.uk\">alumni@exeter.ac.uk<\/a>, as we always like to celebrate your successes and achievements.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Nine alumni and one honorary graduate of the University of Exeter received awards in the 2026 New Year Honours List. The honours system marks the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":435,"featured_media":1987,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,15],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Alumni receive recognition in 2026 New Year Honours List - Alumni news<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/alumni-news\/2026\/01\/09\/alumni-receive-recognition-in-2026-new-year-honours-list\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Alumni receive recognition in 2026 New Year Honours List - Alumni news\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Nine alumni and one honorary graduate of the University of Exeter received awards in the 2026 New Year Honours List. 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