St Andrews staff recognised in Queen’s Birthday Honours List

Wednesday 1 June 2022

Four members of staff at the University of St Andrews have been recognised in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List 2022, published today (Wednesday 1 June 2022), for services to Higher Education, sport, early years education and the history of mathematics and science. 

Principal and Vice-Chancellor Sally Mapstone is made a DBE, Director of Sport and Exercise Stephen Stewart, mathematician Dr Isobel Falconer and Student Services Assistant Director Claire Lavelle all receive an MBE. 


Profile image of Dr Isobel Falconer MBE
Dr Isobel Falconer MBE

Dr Isobel Falconer MBE is a leading maths historian whose research focuses on the relationship between maths and physics in the 17th and 19th centuries. Dr Falconer’s work aims to overcome gender and ethnic stereotypes, highlighting often overlooked figures from the world of mathematics and science.  

Among her contributions, Dr Falconer has helped modernise the University of St Andrews’ MacTutor History of Mathematics archive and put it on a sustainable footing. MacTutor is a free online resource containing biographies of more than 3000 mathematicians and over 2000 pages of essays and supporting materials. With over two million hits per week from users based in 180 countries, the archive is considered one of the most authoritative mathematics resources available worldwide. 


Profile image of Claire Lavelle MBE
Claire Lavelle MBE

Claire Lavelle MBE, Student Services Assistant Director (Wellbeing and International), joined the University in March 2022. Her award is in respect of her work with The Hive of Wellbeing, a project that supports wellbeing amongst teachers, Early Year Practitioners, support staff, school leaders and school communities   

A professional coach with over twenty-five years’ experience in education, Claire has previously worked as a teacher, a principal teacher, a primary head teacher in Scotland and abroad, and a quality improvement officer in a Scottish local authority. 


Profile image of Professor Dame Sally Mapstone DBE FRSE
Professor Dame Sally Mapstone DBE FRSE

Professor Dame Sally Mapstone DBE FRSE is Principal and Vice-Chancellor of St Andrews, a celebrated medievalist, and a leading figure in Scottish and UK higher education policy development and reform.    

She is a board member of Universities UK, Chair of the Higher Education Policy Institute, Vice-Chair of the Carnegie Trust for the Universities of Scotland, and was recently elected Convener of Universities Scotland. She has chaired the International Advisory Board for the University of Helsinki, is a trustee of the Europaeum, and was the first UK university leader to receive a medal from the US Foreign Policy Association of America for her international leadership in higher education. 

Professor Mapstone is the first female President of the Saltire Society, and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. 

A lifelong champion of diversity and efforts to widen access to higher education, she has led on key widening access initiatives for Universities Scotland, helping to increase the numbers of students from disadvantaged and care-experienced backgrounds attending, and succeeding at, universities north and south of the border. 

Professor Mapstone’s academic specialism is medieval and early modern Scottish literature and book history. She has written and edited eight books on Older Scots and Middle English literature, and published numerous articles and essays. 

Appointed Principal of St Andrews in 2016, she steered Scotland’s oldest university to first place in The Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2022, the first time any university has broken the 30-year Oxbridge duopoly at the top of UK university rankings. 


Profile image of Stephen Stewart MBE
Stephen Stewart MBE

Stephen Stewart MBE is Director of Saints Sport, the University’s Department of Sport and Exercise, a champion of inclusivity in sport, and a pioneer of using the power of sport, volunteering and education to support disadvantaged communities. 

Stephen began his career as a Leisure Centre Manager in Northern Ireland in 1992, progressing to Deputy Director of Sport at Loughborough University from 1998 to 2008, before coming to St Andrews as Director of Sport in 2008.  

He is a founder of the Wallace Group, a collaboration of seven universities in the UK with a shared interest in promoting sports and health workshops in developing countries. 

Stephen is closely involved in the Volunteer Zambia project, a Wallace Group initiative which supports partnership between Sport In Action and Zambia’s National Sports Federations and Sports Associations to develop a network of Community Sport Hubs in Africa. Student volunteers from the UK work with community leaders in Zambia to establish sustainable programmes that widen the impact of sport, but also provide pathways for young Zambians to enrich their lives through participation, leadership and education.  

He has worked with UK Sport, the Zambian Minister for Sport, the British High Commissioner in Zambia, and the Zambian First Family to transform the life chances of thousands of Zambian youngsters through the power of sport and education. 


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