University of Liverpool Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Research and Impact, Professor Dinah Birch, and Professor of Governance, Laura McAllister, have been recognised in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List 2016.
Professor Birch will receive a CBE for services to higher education, literary scholarship and cultural life. She chaired the REF2014 sub-panel for English Literature and Language, and was Deputy Chair of the main panel in the arts and humanities.
External roles include chairing the Advisory Council for the University of London’s Institute of English Studies and chairing the Editorial Board of The Conversation.
A regular broadcaster and contributor to the Times Literary Supplement and London Review of Books, Professor Birch also served as a member of the Man Booker prize panel in 2012. She has published widely on Victorian fiction and poetry, and on the work of the critic John Ruskin.
Professor Dinah Birch
Professor Birch said: “I am truly delighted and deeply honoured to receive this award, which is as much a tribute to the cultural life of the University and the city as it is to my own work.”
Professor Laura McAllister will receive a CBE for her services to higher education and the sporting industry. A former Wales football international and national team captain with 24 caps, Professor McAllister is the former Chair of Sport Wales and continues to play an active role in the industry as a Board Member ofthe Government’s agency for Olympic and Paralympic sport, and the Welsh Football Trust.
Professor McAllister is a trustee of the Institute of Welsh Affairs, as well as a member of the Wales Advisory Committee of the British Council, and has also been a Trustee of Stonewall UK.
Her extensive media work includes commentary on major sporting events, governance and industry developments across major broadcast channels around the world.
Professor McAllister said: “This recognition, in Her Majesty’s 90th year, is significant in highlighting the work of women in education, sport, and business. I am very grateful to be able to represent this area of work with this special honour.”
Professor McAllister’s research on the development of devolution also created impact through her collaborative work with National Assembly for Wales.
Professor Laura McAllister