News

OBE for services to healthcare

A pioneer of the University’s education programmes for healthcare professionals has been awarded the OBE in the New Year’s Honours.

Professor Kimmy Eldridge, Director for Health Partnerships and a member of the Department of Health and Human Sciences, receives the award for services to healthcare.

Trained as a nurse, Professor Eldridge has spent 37 years working in healthcare and the education of healthcare professionals.

She came to the University in 1994 to establish the Nursing and Health Studies Unit as the lynchpin for a new partnership between the NHS and University.

Professor Eldridge’s ability to translate health care policies into innovative courses for the education of nurses and allied health practitioners has seen her establish a variety of Masters and Professional Doctorate programmes at Essex.

The University’s MSc in Advanced Nursing Practice anticipated the government’s creation of Nurse Consultant posts, and the Nursing Doctorate programme followed. Professor Eldridge also developed the UK’s first graduate entry accelerated pre-registration degrees in nursing at Essex.

She is one of few nurses nationally to be appointed a Vocational Training Scheme organiser for GP training.

Professor Eldridge praised the support and encouragement she had received from her family, and NHS and Essex colleagues. She said: ‘I am touched and embarrassed by the honour. I feel privileged to be doing a job that gives me so much enjoyment and to be working in a very supportive organisation.’

Former Essex lecturer and honorary graduate of the University, Professor John O’Reilly, receives a knighthood for services to science. Currently Vice-Chancellor of Cranfield University, Professor O’Reilly was Chief Executive of the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) for five years, and in 2004-2005 was President of the Institution of Electrical Engineers. He obtained his PhD from Essex and served as lecturer and then senior lecturer from 1972 to 1984.

Fellow Honorary graduates Evelyn Glennie and Hugh Johnson were also honoured. Evelyn Glennie, one of the world’s most celebrated percussionists, was made a dame, and best-selling wine author and journalist Hugh Johnson received an OBE.

Students’ photographic talents rewarded

The Area Studies annual photography prize has this year been awarded to joint winners.

La Quebrada de Jaspé – Waterfall over Pure Jasper Rock by Caroline Carson

Latin American Studies student Caroline Carson and European Studies student Rosie Dixon both received the top prize of £50 while American (US) Studies student Sophie Halliday took home the runners-up award of £25.

Caroline, who spent her year abroad in Venezuela and Brazil, took her prize-winning photograph whilst visiting a waterfall in a national park in south-east Venezuela. She said she was inspired by the dark brown rocky riverbed which was transformed into vibrant reds and oranges when the sun came out.

Rosie’s photograph, And the Italians went in two by two… was taken during her year abroad in Italy. It shows part of the procession following the Madonna of San Luca which is carried through the medieval streets of Bologna each May to encourage summer rains.

Runner-up Sophie submitted one of a series of 71 photographs that she took in Holyoke, Massachusetts, which were inspired by the economic decline of what had been a prosperous manufacturing town in the early 1990s.

Inquiring into human rights in Sri Lanka

Professor Sir Nigel Rodley has been elected to serve on an International Independent Group of Eminent Persons (IIGEP) and monitor the conduct of an inquiry into reported human rights violations in Sri Lanka.

A member of the Department of Law and Chair of the Human Rights Centre, Sir Nigel has extensive experience in the field of human rights. He acted as the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture from 1993 to 2001 and is on the UN Human Rights Committee. He is also Commissioner of the International Commission of Jurists, has worked at UN Headquarters in New York and was founding head of the legal office at the International Secretariat of Amnesty International.

Sir Nigel was put forward for this new post after Sri Lankan President Rajapakse announced the establishment of a Commission of Inquiry to investigate allegations of serious human rights violations. He invited the UK and a number of other governments and organisations to submit nominations for the IIGEP.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office Minister Kim Howells MP said: ‘I am delighted that we have put forward a candidate of Sir Nigel’s experience. It is crucial that reports of human rights violations in Sri Lanka are investigated fully and those responsible brought to justice. I remain deeply concerned by continuing reports of abductions, extra-judicial killings and child recruitment in Sri Lanka. I hope the IIGEP will not only support the Commission to establish individual responsibility for crimes but also identify the broader context which allowed abuses to take place.

‘The IIGEP will provide an opportunity to ensure that the Commission of Inquiry into recent incidents is transparent and conforms to international standards.’

Sir Nigel, and all those chosen to serve on the IIGEP, will do so as independent experts and serve in a personal capacity.

Also in the printed January edition of Wyvern:

• Spin-out commended in business competition
• Award for art catalogue
• New Director joins East 15
• Gifted pupils tackle multi-media production
• Green Gown recognition for Essex
• Human rights and security
• Go ahead for waterfront campus
• Best paper prize awarded to robotics research team
• Essex computer Science graduate wins IT award