Honours for champions of diversity
Huge congratulations to two members of our Council, Professors Polly Arnold and Tom Welton, on being recognised in Her Majesty the Queen's Birthday Honours list for 2017.
Both receive well-deserved OBEs for their tireless work in promoting diversity in the chemical sciences.
Polly Arnold says of her honour: "To be honest, the first thing I did was check my privilege, and try to decide if I deserved recognition.
"But of course I’m extremely flattered and hope it will make me work harder, and make me sound more persuasive. There are so many more things I want to do to help improve diversity in STEM."
Tom says of his recognition: "I am overjoyed at this amazing honour. As I grew up on a council estate, I could never have imagined that choosing to study chemistry would lead to something like this and I will always be grateful for the opportunities that that chemistry has given me.
"I am particularly pleased that this award is to recognise the importance of broadening the diversity of those studying and working in science. This represents huge change in attitudes to this issue.
"This change rests on the work of many people who have worked to achieve this over the decades, often in the face of harsh opposition. This award is an honour for me, but it is a testament to them."
More about Tom Welton and Polly Arnold
Tom Welton CChem FRSC, is Chair of our Membership and Qualifications Board
Tom is Dean of the Faculty of Natural Sciences at Imperial College London.
He works with ionic liquids in order to develop sustainable solvent technologies. The central academic aim of his research is to understand how different chemical environments influence reaction processes, and to use this understanding to provide more effective chemical processes by the matching of the reaction with its optimum solvent environment.
Tom was named as one of our 175 faces of chemistry, celebrating and promoting the diversity of the chemical sciences.
Polly Arnold BA MA DPhil CChem FRSC FRSE
Polly has been at the University of Edinburgh since 2007, where she currently holds the Crum Brown Chair of Chemistry. Her interests are in small molecule activation and its application in catalysis, and in f-block structure and bonding.
Polly's work to improve gender equality and diversity in science is detailed in A Chemical Imbalance.