Sir JVT ‘deeply humbled’ to have received knighthood
PROFESSOR RECOGNISED FOR HIS ROLE IN STEERING ENGLAND THROUGH PANDEMIC
NOTTINGHAM professor Sir Jonathan Van-tam has paid tribute to his family and one of the city’s universities after receiving a knighthood.
Professor Van-tam, who grew up in Boston, Lincolnshire, was recognised for his work during the pandemic alongside a number of Nottingham’s finest in the New Year’s Honours List for 2022.
The University of Nottingham professor has been working as the Government’s deputy chief medical officer ever since the pandemic swept across the globe.
Speaking of his knighthood, Sir Jonathan said: “I wish to pay special tribute to my family for their love which has sustained me, and the considerable sacrifices they have made to allow me to undertake my role.
“I thank the University of Nottingham and the people of my hometown, Boston, for their steadfast support; I also pay tribute to the fantastic CMO team, and others in the Department of Health and Social Care and across government, who have supported me through many hard days over the last two years.”
Things could have panned out very differently, however, according to professor Van-tam.
He previously revealed his career may have taken an entirely different path had it not been for a stroke of good luck in his early days.
‘JVT,’ as he is widely referred, says he gained a place at the University of Nottingham because someone cancelled, stating that his grades “weren’t quite good enough”.
And it turned out he managed to bag the very last place to get on the course at the time.
He graduated in medicine at the university in 1987 and would go on to become a senior lecturer in 1997.
Sir Jonathan was then thrust into the spotlight amid the coronavirus pandemic, and quickly grew in popularity during his many Downing Street briefings thanks, in part, to his remarkable knack for explaining complex science through metaphors and analogies.
He has regularly paid Nottingham a visit, including stints as a volunteer vaccinator at the King’s Meadow Campus vaccine site off Lenton Lane earlier last year.
“I am deeply humbled to have been honoured by Her Majesty the Queen,” he added.
“The Covid-19 pandemic has been the largest public health crisis in a generation.
“We all wish it had never happened. Notwithstanding, it has been the greatest privilege of my professional career to have served the people of the UK during this time.
“I stand on the shoulders of many who have worked tirelessly to fight this pandemic – I thank them all for their commitment, advice and wisdom.”
Two other University of Nottingham professors received OBES in the New Year’s Honours List.
Professor Anthony Avery and professor Robert Mokaya were both given the honours for services to general practice and chemical sciences respectively.