Queen’s Birthday Honours for Goldsmiths community

Goldsmiths, University of London alumni, former staff members and Honorands have been named in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list 2016.

Artist, former Goldsmiths tutor, and Goldsmiths Honorary Fellow (2001) Michael Craig-Martin was knighted for his services to art.

As an influential teacher he is credited with fostering the talents of the ‘Young British Artist’ generation. Among his most famous works is An Oak Tree (1973) - a glass on a shelf, considered to be a turning point in the development of conceptual art.

Craig-Martin studied Fine Art at the Yale School of Art and Architecture and has lived and worked in Britain since 1966. He had his first one man exhibition at the Rowan Gallery in London in 1969 and since then has shown regularly both in the UK and abroad, receiving a CBE for services to art in 2001.

Althea Efunshile, Deputy Chief Executive of Arts Council England, has been appointed CBE for services to art and culture.

Having completed her PGCE at Goldsmiths in 1980, Althea taught and worked with young people before joining the London Borough of Lewisham, then taking various director level roles in the Department for Education and Skills.

The Goldsmiths Honorary Fellow (appointed 2002) and former member of Goldsmiths’ Council - who is soon to return to her Council seat - commented on twitter at the weekend that she is “over the moon” to be honoured. This year she will step down from the Arts Council to become the first chair of the National College for the Creative and Cultural Industries.

(Michael Craig-Martin, filmed in his studio by Christie's in 2015)

Elly Barnes, who studied in the Department of Educational Studies for an MA focusing on inclusive education, has been appointed MBE for her work on LGBT+ education. In 2015 Elly’s training and resource programme for teachers aimed at eradicating homophobia, transphobia and biphobia in schools was awarded £214,000 by the Department for Education.

Quoted on the website gscene.com, Elly said: “I’m absolutely gobsmacked and incredibly excited, especially on [Educate & Celebrate’s] 10th anniversary! I can’t believe that my stubbornness, attention to language, and unwavering belief in equality and social justice has been recognised.

"My friends, family and the Educate & Celebrate team have played a huge part in this process and we are all completely over the moon. The years of research and obsessive planning to change opinion will not stop – this gives me further momentum to continue the vital journey to LGBT+Inclusion.’’

Professor Margaret Snowling received an Honorary Degree from Goldsmiths in 2007. The Professor of Psychology and President of St John's College, Oxford has now been appointed CBE for services to science and the understanding of dyslexia.

BA History alumna Louise Casey has been made Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire for her services to families and vulnerable people.

After starting her career in the social welfare sector, Dame Louise Casey became deputy director of homelessness charity Shelter at the age of just 27. Among other roles, she is a former Director General in the Home Office, heading the Neighbourhood Crime and Justice Group. At the request of the Prime Minister, she is currently leading a review into opportunity and integration in some of our most isolated communities.

BA Art alumna Eileen Cooper has been awarded an OBE for services to art and art education.

The Royal Academician studied at Goldsmiths between 1971-74 before becoming well regarded in the 1980s for strong and passionate figuration, encompasing themes of sexuality, motherhood, life and death. She has taught at a number of institutions, and in 2010 was elected Keeper of the Royal Academy, the first woman in this role since the Academy began in 1768.