Former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Essex, Professor Ron Johnston, FBA, has been awarded an OBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours. 

Professor Johnston, currently professor of Geography at the University of Bristol, became Essex’s third Vice-Chancellor when he was appointed in 1992, and served in the position for three years. He was awarded an honorary degree by the University in 1996.

Professor Johnston has been awarded the OBE for his services to scholarship, in recognition of his research into electoral and political geography, urban social geography, and the history of human geography.

He joined Essex from the University of Sheffield, where he was Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Academic Affairs and Professor of Geography. He had previously worked in the Departments of Geography at Monash University, Australia, (1964-1966) and the University of Canterbury, New Zealand (1967-1974).

He has twice been honoured by the Royal Geographical Society for his research achievements, and in 2009 he received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Association of American Geographers. In 1999 he was elected a Fellow of the British Academy and a Foundation Academician of the Academy of the Learned Societies in the Social Sciences.

Essex honorary graduate Jack Petchey has been awarded the CBE for charitable services. He established the Jack Petchey Foundation for Young People in 1999. The Foundation gives grants to programmes and projects that benefit those aged between 11 and 25, many in east London and Essex, and has committed £150 million to schools and youth projects over the next decade. He was awarded an honorary degree by the University in 2008.