Professor Sir David Greenaway says being knighted in the Queen’s Birthday Honours “is just as much an honour for the University as it is for me”.

Sir David received the honour in recognition of his achievements in higher education and public service.

He said: “This is an extraordinary thing to have happened. When I received the offer, I was speechless, but sufficiently in control to accept by return of post!

“I am proud to have spent most of my working life at Nottingham, learning from many thousands of students and staff, and it has been a privilege to lead the University. This is just as much an honour for the University as it is for me.

“I and my family are immensely proud of this award.”

The knighthood will be conferred at an official ceremony at Buckingham Palace.

A renowned economist, researcher, teacher and academic leader with an international reputation, Sir David has led the University as Vice-Chancellor since 2008. He was appointed to the University as a Professor of Economics in 1987 and was subsequently a Dean, Pro-Vice-Chancellor, and founding Director of the Leverhulme Centre for Research on Globalisation and Economic Policy. He is a Member of the Government’s Asia Task Force and Higher Education Task Force, Chair elect of the CASE Europe Board of Trustees and a Deputy Lieutenant of Nottinghamshire.

As an academic, he continues to lecture on Current Economic Issues to first-year undergraduates in the School of Economics. He is the editor of an academic journal and continues to publish research widely in the fields of exporting and productivity, cross-border investment, international trade and economic development.

As the Vice-Chancellor, he leads an institution with more than 44,000 students worldwide, 7,000 staff and a turnover of £570m. Sir David’s international profile – particularly in China – was confirmed when he was awarded honorary citizenship of Ningbo, the home of the University of Nottingham Ningbo China which celebrates its tenth anniversary this year.

His public service has encompassed a wide range of roles, advising the Government on  pay for the Armed Forces and for senior public servants. He recently completed a major independent review of the training of doctors in the UK.

He has also served as a consultant to the World Bank, the European Commission, the United Nations, the Department for Transport and the UK Treasury.

Sir David, 62, has played a personal role in the University’s biggest-ever fundraising campaign – so far cycling 3,000 miles over the last three years to raise more than £750,000.

This summer is the Life Cycle team’s biggest challenge yet – a 1,400-mile ride to the four corners of Great Britain, to raise money for the Children’s Brain Tumour Research Centre. So far the team have raised almost £400,000, taking the Life Cycle total well past the £1m mark.