Southampton Professor Maria Stokes has been awarded an OBE (Officer of the Order of the British Empire) for services to physiotherapy research in the 2018 New Year Honours.
Professor Maria Stokes.
Professor Stokes, who joined the University in 2004, leads the University’s Active Living Technologies Research Group. Her research interests focus on musculoskeletal health, specifically in exercise to maintain healthy joints and mobility.
Professor Stokes’ research aims to optimise function and enable active living through multidisciplinary research into healthy ageing of the musculoskeletal system and physical management of musculoskeletal conditions. Her latest research will involve the first study of the effects of space flight on human muscle tone, thanks to funding from the UK Space Agency.
“Thanks for all the good wishes on receiving this honour,” said Professor Stokes. “Such an achievement for research can only be accepted as part of a team, so I’m delighted to receive it on behalf of colleagues in the Active Living and Rehabilitation Research Group in the Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of Southampton and all our collaborators.”
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Joining Professor Stokes on the New Year Honours list is Professor Philip Nelson, former Director of ISVR and Pro Vice-Chancellor (Research and Enterprise) at the University, and more recently Chief Executive Officer of the UK Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC).
Southampton alumna Rosemary Squire (BA Spanish, 1979), joint founder of the Ambassador Theatre Group (ATG) – Britain’s most successful theatre company – was made a Dame.
Another Southampton alumnus Dr. Brian Bowsher (BSc in Chemistry in 1978, then a PhD in 1981) has been made an Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (OBE) for his contribution to national and international metrology. Dr. Bowsher is the Chief Executive of the Science and Technology Facilities Council, one of the University’s major research funders.