Lincoln College is proud to celebrate the outstanding achievements of our four alumni who have been recognised in the King’s Birthday Honours 2025 for their significant contributions across academia, public service, prison reform and social enterprise.

Professor Julia Black DBE CBE FBA
Julia Black (1985) has been appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) for services to Research in the Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences. Julia is Warden of Nuffield College and President of the British Academy, the UK’s national academy for humanities and social sciences. Prior to becoming Warden, she was a Professor of Law and Regulation at the London School of Economics and Political Science where she also held a number of senior executive roles including Pro Vice Chancellor of Research from 2014 to 2019 and interim Vice Chancellor from 2016 to 2017, and Strategic Director of Innovation from 2019 to 2024. Awarded a CBE in 2020 for services to the study of law and regulation, Julia completed her BA in Jurisprudence and DPhil at Lincoln.

Peter Dawson CBE
Peter Dawson (1981, BA Modern History) has been appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) for services to Prisoners and to Prison Reform. Recently retired as Director of the Prison Reform Trust, Peter has been a leading voice in advocating for a more humane, effective, and just penal system. His career has spanned operational roles within the prison service and impactful work in policy and reform, including 15 years in the Home Office and as a Prison Governor. It was at High Down that he oversaw the opening of the Clink, a cordon bleu restaurant within the prison walls, but open to the public and in which all the food was prepared and served by prisoners. You can watch Peter discuss prison reform as part of The Future Unleashed video podcast series or listen to the audio version on most major podcast platforms, such as Apple podcasts.

Jerome Glass CB
Jerome Glass (1999, Modern History and Modern Languages) has been appointed Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB) for Public Service. He was appointed Chief Operating Officer at the Home Office in June 2025. Before this, he served as Director General for the Ministry of Justice’s Policy and Strategy Group, where he oversaw the Criminal Justice System and all of the department’s policy work. He has led work on reducing reoffending, prison and wider criminal justice reform, improving the experience of victims (in particular of rape and serious sexual offences) and on improving access to justice across the country. He has been with the Ministry of Justice since 2016, holding positions such as Principal Private Secretary to the Lord Chancellor, Director of Strategy and Director of Prison Policy.

Professor Stephan Chambers OBE
Stephan Chambers (1982) has been appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for services to Social Enterprise and to Philanthropy. Stephan has played a pivotal role in advancing entrepreneurship with a social purpose, notably as the founding director of the Marshall Institute for Philanthropy and Social Entrepreneurship at the London School of Economics and as co-founder of the Skoll World Forum and MBA director at Oxford Saïd. He is a Senior Research Fellow at Lincoln.

Professor Chambers said, "Philanthropy and social entrepreneurship are, by nature, collaborative endeavours and this recognition is about the progress and impact of the field itself. I hope this honour helps shine a light on the vital work being done across the sector and the positive change it continues to bring to society."

The Rector, Nigel Clifford, said, ‘The College is proud of the contribution that all our alumni make to our world – and, so, it is especially satisfying that Julia, Peter, Stephan and Jerome have been recognised in the King’s Birthday Honours for many years of outstanding work. Congratulations.’

See the full Honours List for the University of Oxford