Congratulations to Plus contributors David Spiegelhalter and Helen Mason, who have been awarded a knighthood and OBE respectively in the 2014 Queen's Birthday Honours list! Joining famous faces including Dame Maggie Smith, Angelina Jolie and Daniel Day-Lewis, Helen Mason and David Spiegelhalter's honours have been awarded to recognise their outstanding work in mathematics, science and public communication.
Professor — now Sir — David Spiegelhalter is Winton Professor of the Public Understanding of Risk at the University of Cambridge, and has been knighted for "services to statistics". A medical statistician, he has played a leading role in developing simulation technologies and clinical trials on drug safety, and has supported the UK health service through many inquiries, including the public inquiry into children’s heart surgery at Bristol Royal Infirmary.
As the official government press release notes, and as regular readers of Plus will already know, Spiegelhalter has also 'made a significant difference to how to communicate with patients and the public about risk'. He started the brilliant project Understanding Uncertainty, writes public articles, lectures to public and school audiences and has appeared on TV and radio (ranging from being interviewed on the BBC's heavy-hitting Newsnight to appearing as a contestant in Winter Wipeout). Watch a lighthearted example of David Spiegelhalter's public understanding work below, in a video produced by the University of Cambridge, and read his articles on Plus.
Helen Mason leads the Atomic Astrophysics group in the Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics at the University of Cambridge. Helen Mason's extensive outreach and education work has included writing for Plus and setting up the Sun|Trek website for schools, as well as giving frequent talks and appearing on radio and TV.
Helen Mason's OBE has been awarded "for services to Higher Education and to Women in Science, Engineering and Technology". Learn more about her work in this video from the Royal Institution: