Dame Judith Mayhew Jonas, DBE (born 18 October 1948 [1] ) is a New Zealand-born British solicitor, local government politician and academic. She has been the first woman to hold a number of public roles in the United Kingdom such as a two-year term as Provost of King's College, Cambridge and chair of the Royal Opera House.
Born and educated in New Zealand, Judith Mayhew was the daughter of Bill and Joyce Mayhew. [2] She attended Corstorphine Primary School in Dunedin and Otago Girls' High School graduating LLM from the University of Otago. [3]
She lectured at Otago before moving to the UK as a lecturer in law at the University of Southampton and then King's College London, from 1976 to 1989, where she set up and became director of the Anglo-French Law Degree (Sorbonne), the first joint degree in Europe. [3] [4] [5]
In 1986, she entered private practice as an employment lawyer, rising to become special adviser to the chairman at Clifford Chance, a global law firm. [3] In 2006, she was appointed to the board of directors of Merrill Lynch. [6]
She was closely involved in the running of the City of London from 1986. In that year she was elected to the City of London Corporation and chaired the corporation's Policy and Resources Committee from 1996 to 2003. From 2001 she was City and Business Advisor to Ken Livingstone, the Mayor of London. [3] [4]
Mayhew Jonas served on a number of boards of educational and cultural institutions. In 1999 she was appointed chair of governors at Birkbeck, University of London. [5] She was Provost of King's College, Cambridge from 2003–05, the first woman to hold this post. [7] She was the first woman to chair the Royal Opera House. [2] [4]
She is a trustee of the Imperial War Museum and of the Urban Land Institute, and co-chair of the British Dutch Dialogues, the Apeldoorn Conference. [2] [6] [8]
From 2008 to 2022 she was Provost (Chancellor) of Bishop Grosseteste University in Lincoln, England. [2] [9]
Mayhew Jonas features in a film series, Dreamcatchers, about successful expatriate New Zealanders. [10]
Mayhew Jonas was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Otago in 1998. She was made a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in the 2002 Birthday Honours "for services to the City of London". [5]
In 2004, she was made New Zealander of the Year in Britain. [11] She was Global Award Winner at the New Zealand Women of Influence Awards in 2015. [3]
She married Christopher Jonas, an English property consultant, in 2003. [4]
The University of Otago is a public research collegiate university based in Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand. Founded in 1869, Otago is New Zealand's oldest University and one of the oldest universities in Oceania.
Dame Silvia Rose Cartwright is a New Zealand jurist who served as the 18th Governor-General of New Zealand, from 2001 to 2006. She was the second woman to hold the office, after Dame Catherine Tizard.
Dame Alison Fettes Richard, is an English anthropologist, conservationist and university administrator. She was the 344th Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambridge, the third Vice-Chancellor of Cambridge since the post became full-time, and the second woman. Before arriving at Cambridge, she served as the provost of Yale University from 1994 to 2002.
Dame Katherine Jane Grainger is a Scottish former rower and current Chair of UK Sport. She is a 2012 Summer Olympics gold medallist, four-time Olympic silver medallist and six-time World Champion. She served as Chancellor of Oxford Brookes University between 2015 and 2020, and is currently Chancellor of the University of Glasgow.
Dame Linda Jane Colley, is an expert on British, imperial and global history from 1700. She is currently Shelby M. C. Davis 1958 Professor of History at Princeton University and a long-term fellow in history at the Swedish Collegium for Advanced Study in Uppsala. She previously held chairs at Yale University and at the London School of Economics. Her work frequently approaches the past from inter-disciplinary perspectives.
Dame Marina Sarah Warner, is an English historian, mythographer, art critic, novelist and short story writer. She is known for her many non-fiction books relating to feminism and myth. She has written for many publications, including The London Review of Books, the New Statesman, Sunday Times and Vogue. She has been a visiting professor, given lectures and taught on the faculties of many universities.
Dame Anne Elizabeth Owers, was Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Prisons. Owers was the fifth holder of the post, appointed in August 2001, succeeding David Ramsbotham. Her appointment was renewed in June 2006 and in March 2008. She was appointed as the first National chair the Independent Monitoring Boards in October 2017. She was chair of the Independent Police Complaints Commission, and prior to this, she directed JUSTICE, the UK-based human rights and law reform organisation.
Dame Averil Millicent Cameron, often cited as A. M. Cameron, is a British historian. She writes on Late Antiquity, Classics, and Byzantine Studies. She was Professor of Late Antique and Byzantine History at the University of Oxford, and the Warden of Keble College, Oxford, between 1994 and 2010.
Dame Lillian Margery Penson, DBE was a professor of modern history at the University of London, and the first woman to serve as Vice-Chancellor of the university.
Dame Adelaide Mary Anderson, DBE was a British civil servant and labour activist, particularly interested in child labour and conditions in China. She served as HM Principal Lady Inspector of Factories from 1897 to 1921.
Sir Malcolm John Grant,, FAcSS is a barrister, academic lawyer, and former law professor. Born and educated in New Zealand, he was the ninth President and Provost of University College London – the head as well as principal academic and administrative officer of the university – for over a decade from 2003 until 2013. He then served for 7 years as chairman of NHS England. He has published extensively in planning and environmental law, and local government law, including serving for 23 years (1981–2004) as the editor of the 8 loose leaf volume Encyclopaedia of Planning Law and Practice of which he remains a consultant editor.
Dame Janet Laughland Nelson, also known as Jinty Nelson, is a British historian. She is Emerita Professor of Medieval History at King's College London.
Dame Helen Charlotte Isabella Gwynne-Vaughan, was a prominent English botanist and mycologist. During the First World War, she served in the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps and then as Commandant of the Women's Royal Air Force (WRAF) from 1918 to 1919. During the Second World War, from 1939 to 1941, she served as Chief Controller of the Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS).
Dame Anne Judith Rafferty,, is an English jurist, who served as a Lady Justice of Appeal of England and Wales from 2011 to 2020.
Dame Lesley Regan is a British gynaecologist, professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at Imperial College London and Honorary Consultant at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust at St Mary's Hospital. She was the president of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists from 2016-2019 - only the second woman to ever hold this role and the first in sixty-four years.
Dame Judith Anne Rees,, is a distinguished academic geographer, was interim director of London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) from May 2011 until September 2012. Professor Rees also acts as director for its Centre for Climate Change Economics and Policy and is Vice-Chair of the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment.
Dame Sarah Jane Asplin is a British judge of the Court of Appeal of England and Wales. She was granted the customary appointment as Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire on appointment as a High Court judge in 2012, becoming the third woman appointed to the Chancery Division.
Judith Olwyn Medlicott is a New Zealand lawyer and former Chancellor of the University of Otago.
Dame Sarah Elizabeth Worthington, is a British legal scholar, barrister, and Deputy High Court Judge in the Chancery Division, specialising in company law, commercial law, and equity. From 2011 to 2022, she was the Downing Professor of the Laws of England at the University of Cambridge. She is Treasurer of the British Academy and a trustee of the British Museum.
Dame Dorothy Rita Fraser was a New Zealand community activist and local politician.
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