Seventeen Cambridge academics and residents have been named in the New Year honours list, including the new provost of King’s College and a TikTok famous organist.

Ten of those honoured by the King have direct links to the university, whilst over half a dozen more are residents of the Cambridge area.

Former Newnham principal and deputy vice-chancellor Carol Black has been awarded the highest level of damehood in recognition of her public service. Alongside Dame Black, composer and honorary fellow of Trinity College Judith Weir CBE has been awarded a damehood for services to music.

Three members of the University have been awarded OBEs: Dr Stephen Brierley, a former research fellow, Dr Sabesan Sithamparanathan, an enterprise fellow at Girton, and Dr Gillian Tett, the new provost of King’s College.

Dr Breierley was recognised for his contribution to quantum computing. Whilst a research fellow in computational mathematics at Cambridge, he founded Riverlan, a company which aims to accelerate the development of “useful” quantum computing by a decade.

Dr Sithamparanathan was also recognised for his academic turned commercial success. In 2011, he founded the now highly successful security-tracking company PervasID using research he had conducted whilst working on The Intelligent Airports Project in the engineering department.

Dr Gillian Tett has been awarded an OBE for her service to financial journalism. The newest provost of King’s, Dr Tett studied for a PhD in Social Anthropology at Clare College. Dr Tett served as editor-at-large of the US Financial Times and chair of its editorial board before returning to Cambridge.

Anna Lapwood, an organist and social media influencer, has been awarded an MBE for services to music. Aged only 28, Lapwood is the director of music at Pembroke College and associate artist at the Royal Albert Hall. She has amassed over 690,000 followers on TikTok and regularly speaks of the importance of gender balance in classical music.

Professor Ann Prentice and Gerard Grech have both been awarded a CBE for their services to public health nutrition and technology respectively. Professor Prentice is an honorary senior visiting fellow of the MRC Epidemiology Unit, and has previously served as director of the MRC Elsie Widdowson Laboratory and chair of UK Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition (2010-20). Mr Grech is the former CEO and Founder of Tech Nation and now leads the Cambridge Enterprise’s new flagship programme ‘Founders Initiative’.

Joan Winterkorn has also been awarded an MBE for services to heritage and culture. Winterkon was awarded an honorary MA by the University in 2019 for her work protecting, building, and maintaining archives, which included her central role in Churchill College obtaining the papers of Sir Winston Churchill and Margaret Thatcher.

Dr Rosie Trevelyan has also be awarded an MBE for services to environmental science and International conservation. Dr Trevelyan, a member of Cambridge Zoology Department, has worked as the Director of international conservation NGO for 28 years.

Seven other individuals from Cambridge have also been recognised on the New Year Honours list. Jane Toogood received an OBE in recognition of her role as co-chair of the Hydrogen Delivery Council. Five others received MBEs for achievements in fields ranging from chemistry, scouting and contributions to Whittlesford (a village in South Cambridgeshire). These were Dr Helen Pain, Dr Kay Williams, Sheila Betts, Kenneth Winterbottom, Michael Frankl and Lorna Woor.