Imperial News

Chemical Engineering alumna Judith Hackitt honoured with Damehood

by Mikhail Menezes, Michael Panagopulos

Alumna Judith Hackitt has been made a Dame in the 2016 New Year's Honours List for services to engineering and health and safety in the UK.

Dame Judith currently serves as the Chair of the Health and Safety Executive which is Britain’s national regulator for workplace health and safety. She has held the Chair for the past 8 years. She also serves on the Strategic Advisory Board for the Department of Chemical Engineering at Imperial College London, where she is helping to shape the strategy of Chemical Engineering education and research through her experience and insight.

My advice to any young woman, or man for that matter, looking to embark on a career in chemical engineering is very simple – go for it

– Judith Hackitt, CBE FREng

Chair of the Health and Safety Executive

After graduating from the Department of Chemical Engineering at Imperial College in 1975, Dame Judith worked in the chemicals manufacturing industry for 23 years, following which she joined the Chemical Industries Association in 1998, becoming director in 2002. In 2006, she was awarded a CBE for her services to health and safety. She is also a Fellow of the Institute of Chemical Engineers and was elected to the ellowship of the Royal Academy of Engineering in 2010.

Please join us in congratulating Dame Judith Hackitt on this well-deserved recognition! She serves as an inspiration to the members of the Department and we wish her the very best for the future.

Based on materials provided by the Health and Safety Executive on 30 December 2015.