Oxford Mathematician and computer scientist Ursula Martin has been appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) for services to Science and Education in the King's Birthday Honours 2025.
Ursula is an Emeritus Professor in Oxford Mathematics, and a Fellow of Wadham College, Oxford. She has also worked at the Universities of Cambridge, Edinburgh, St Andrews and Illinois, and at Queen Mary University of London. She is a Fellow of both the Royal Academy of Engineering and the Royal Society of Edinburgh. The first woman to hold a number of senior roles, she has been a steadfast advocate and mentor for women in computer science and mathematics, leading initiatives in the UK and US. She has also held a variety of UK and international policy roles.
Her research, initially in algebra, logic and the use of computers to create mathematical proofs, broadened to encompass wider social and cultural approaches to understanding the circulation and impact of computer science and mathematics. With international partners ranging from defence companies to computer museums, her unique collaborative research portfolio spans mathematics, computer science, and the humanities, with wide-ranging academic, practical, and cultural impact. She is particularly known for leading the first scholarly investigation of the mathematics of Ada Lovelace, and is currently supported by the Leverhulme Trust to investigate the impact of artificial intelligence on mathematics.
Ursula said: ‘I am delighted and humbled to receive this honour. I truly appreciate my good fortune in working with colleagues from so many disciplines within and beyond the UK, in organisations ranging from high-tech companies to libraries and museums."
Ursula joins fellow Oxford Mathematicians Francis Kirwan and Alison Etheridge as DBE.