Professor to receive an OBE

The University’s 3M Professor of Innovation Liz Towns-Andrews was recognised for her many achievements in the New Year Honours List

A UNIVERSITY of Huddersfield professor who was the creative force behind its flagship business hub appears in the New Year honours list. 

Liz Town-Andrews, who is 3M Professor of Innovation and Director of Research and Enterprise at the University, is awarded an OBE.  The honour adds to an earlier distinction, a Queen’s Award for Enterprise, conferred in 2013. 

The citation that accompanies Professor Towns-Andrews’s OBE describes her as a “trailblazer in science” and goes on to outline her accomplishments in the field of research and enterprise since she joined the University of Huddersfield in 2009. 

A key achievement was the creation of the 3M Buckley Innovation Centre, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the University.  Opened in 2013, it has been a base for scores of companies, ranging from established multi-nationals to SMEs and ambitious start-ups, including student enterprises.  The Centre has also invested more than £4 million in advanced technology. Professor Towns-Andrews was the 3M BIC’s CEO until May 2019. 

I was never in any doubt that Liz would make a great contribution to our University...but it is now clear when she came to us in 2009 it was an inspired appointment and she has duly been an inspirational figure.

The University’s Vice-Chancellor Professor Bob Cryan 

Early career and research

She trained as a scientist – with a specialism in crystallography – and began her career as a researcher based at the world-leading Daresbury Laboratory in Cheshire.  She developed a deep interest in enterprise and innovation and collaborations between universities and industry, becoming Director of Knowledge Exchange for the Science and Technology Facilities Council. 

This led to her appointment as the University of Huddersfield’s Director of Research and Enterprise. 

The University is now ranked in the UK top 10 for Knowledge Transfer Partnerships, which boost businesses via research collaboration with universities.  

Among Professor Towns-Andrews’s many other areas of activity is the encouragement of more girls to take up the study of science and technology studies. 

Internationally, she has served on bodies that include the Canada Foundation for Innovation and in 2016 she was named North of England and Scotland Business Woman of the Year.  

Professor Towns-Andrews is a member of a large number of local, regional and national boards and committees including the West Yorkshire Combined Authority Inclusive Growth and Public Policy and Kirklees Metropolitan Council Employment and Skills Board.  She has mentored several female staff at the University of Huddersfield and has been a role model and mentor for Aurora, a women-only programme with the Leadership Foundation for Higher Education.   

The Vice-Chancellor of the University of Huddersfield, Professor Bob Cryan, said he was delighted by his colleague’s OBE. 

“I was never in any doubt that Liz would make a great contribution to our University, to the sector as a whole and the regional economy, but it is now clear when she came to us in 2009 it was an inspired appointment and she has duly been an inspirational figure.”