Queen honors Shapiro with OBE

James Shapiro, Professor in Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, has been named an honorary Officer, Order of the British Empire by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth. British Ambassador Sir Christopher Meyer presented the OBE to Shapiro in a ceremony at the British Embassy in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, Nov. 13.

He was honored in recognition of his services to British-American relations in education through his work on the Marshall Scholarships.

Shapiro, who has taught at the University since 1973, made his first visit to the United Kingdom as a Marshall Scholar in 1964. In 1993, he was named the Darwin prize visiting professor at the University of Edinburgh. He returned to the U.K. last year as an overseas fellow at Churchill College, Cambridge.

He has served on the University’s Marshall Scholarships selection committee since 1983 and as its chairman since 1991.

The Marshall Scholarships, established by an Act of Parliament in 1953, bring the “best and brightest” of young U.S. graduates to the U.K. for degree studies in any subject at the institution of their choice. The scholarship now brings nearly 40 students annually for two years of postgraduate study or a second undergraduate degree.

University students have garnered a total of 15 Marshall Scholarships, with three students receiving the distinguished award in 2000.