Associate Professor Stacy Johnson, in the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, has been appointed Member of the British Empire (MBE) for services to healthcare and Higher Education equality, diversity and inclusion.

Stacy is an inspirational teacher and champion of equality, diversity and inclusion, whose work has shaped nursing and Higher Education around the world.

An award-winning lecturer, she has most recently been recognised in the UK Teaching Excellence Awards for an innovative European Junior Leadership Academy for student nurses and midwives.

Stacy is in demand as an advisor and speaker on healthcare – particularly on matters involving inclusion and justice. Since 2012 she has been a member of England’s Chief Nursing Officer’s Black and Minority Ethnic Group, advising on issues affecting BME patients and staff. She also lectures on and researches healthcare leadership, innovation and entrepreneurship.

Miss Johnson has developed an exemplary reputation for capacity and capability building in the international Higher Education arena. She has advised on curriculum reform, faculty development and leadership development in nurse education in the UK, South Africa, the Middle East, India, the Caribbean and China where she is a visiting lecturer at Henan University of Science and Technology.

In 2013, she was recognised by the Health Service Journal as one of the top 50 BME Pioneers in the UK. She is a Florence Nightingale Foundation and Mary Seacole Leadership scholar In her latest ground breaking piece of work, the ReMEDI Project, BME staff and students reverse mentor senior staff in the NHS and Universities improving inclusion and organisational culture.

She said: “This recognition is a bit of a shock but is wonderful because it honours the minority ethnic communities, students and staff who have been courageous enough to tell me their stories. It recognises the whole community, people of all ethnicities who stand shoulder to shoulder to defeat injustice and hate. I am not sure I deserve this as there is so much work still to do but it just makes me more resolved to keep working and hopeful for the cause. I am very grateful.”

Professor Joanne Lymn, Head of the School of Health Sciences at University of Nottingham, said: “We are extremely privileged as a school, and a University, to have people like Stacy working with us. We value her contribution to nursing and her continued efforts in championing BME patients and staff. This honour is richly-deserved and the perfect end to another successful year.”

President and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Nottingham Professor Shearer West, said: “I would like to offer my warmest congratulations to Stacy. This honour highlights the importance of championing both women and BME communities and underpins the work the University has been doing in this area. On a personal note I have also had the pleasure of working closely with Stacy recently through our reverse-mentoring scheme and I am proud to call her a colleague.”