Professor Adele Jones awarded OBE in New Year Honours list

Adele Jones, the University of Huddersfield’s Professor of Social Work and Director of the ground-breaking None in Three research centre, has been awarded an OBE in the Queen’s New Year Honours list. 

Professor Jones was cited for services to vulnerable women and children in her 40-year career, which began as a social worker in Manchester. 

Following various roles at Manchester Metropolitan University, the University of London and the University of the West Indies, she arrived at Huddersfield in 2007 as Professor of Applied Childhood Studies. 

She specialises in international children’s rights and the prevention of violence against women and children. Following work in Barbados and Grenada, she established the None in Three (Ni3) centre at Huddersfield, which takes its name from the statistic that one in three women and girls will be subject to violence in their lifetimes.

Alongside an ambitious research agenda, Ni3 is developing prosocial computer games that are helping to educate on subjects including domestic violence and abusive behaviour online, work that has been shared across four continents.

“After 40 years of professional practice and research, this feels like recognition not only for me but for the marginalised groups of women and children who don’t have much of a voice and tend not to be visible,” says Professor Jones.

“I have also been gifted in being able to work in such a supportive environment. The University has been good to me. It saw that I had a vision, goals and aspirations beyond national borders, and supported the development of work where I found there was need. The autonomy and the freedom, and the being believed in and valued, has made all the difference, not to mention of course, bringing in the grants.”

Among Professor Jones’ other projects at Huddersfield was her role as Project Leader of COPING, which examined the effects that having an imprisoned parent has on children. This pan-European project remains the only such study in Europe and has led to international policy and practice reform for a group of highly vulnerable young people.

“Establishing the None in Three centre is perhaps my penultimate achievement,” Adele adds. “I have been able to work across eight countries with gifted, skilled people dedicated to preventing violence against women and children.

"I work with the best people abroad and I have a fantastic team of colleagues at Huddersfield. I also have the most incredible, supportive family – they praise me even when there is no praise to be given. They support everything I do.

“I wouldn’t want anyone to think that my journey as a black female professor has been easy, nothing about my work has been easy but it has been incredibly rewarding and I am elated to receive this affirmation of its value.”