Three Wolfson Governing Body Fellows are awarded their RoDs

Wolfson college would like to congratulate three members of its Governing Body Fellowship who have recently been awarded a Recognition of Distinction, and in turn become full professors at Oxford University.

The Recognition of Distinction Scheme (or RoDs) is an annual exercise to confer the title of full professor at the University of Oxford, and this year’s list include three of Wolfson’s own.

Nayanika Mathur is Professor of Anthropology and South Asian Studies. She is the author of two monographs: the award-winning 'Paper Tiger: Law, Bureaucracy, and the Developmental State in Himalayan India' (Cambridge University Press 2016) and, more recently, 'Crooked Cats: Beastly Encounters in the Anthropocene' (Chicago University Press 2021, HarperCollins India 2022). Currently the Director of the Contemporary South Asian Studies Programme at Oxford, Nayanika has been co-directing a research network on the climate crisis at TORCH for the past 3 years. Over 2022-23 she will be resident at the Institute for Advanced Study (IAS) in Princeton researching the methodological questions opened up by the climate crisis.

Nicola Smart is Professor of Cardiovascular Science and a BHF Ian Fleming Fellow. Following a PhD investigating mechanisms of PKC signalling at the University of London, Prof Smart undertook postdoctoral research at King’s College London, exploring the signal transduction pathways that underlie cardiac ischaemic injury. She subsequently joined Professor Paul Riley’s group at the UCL-Institute of Child Health to study myocardial and coronary vessel development.
On the award Prof Smart said “I’m truly honoured and overjoyed to receive this recognition. In large part, it reflects the achievements of the fantastic team of scientists that I’ve been fortunate to work with over the years – they are a constant source of inspiration! Thanks are also due to my mentors and colleagues at the Department and College who have supported me to reach this milestone.”

Tarje Nissen-Meyer is Professor of Geophysics at Oxford’s the Department of Earth Sciences. His research primarily focuses on wave phenomena, as related to earthquakes and other sources, planetary interiors, numerical methods and machine learning. On receiving his award Professor Nissen-Meyer commented “I'm humbled to have received this recognition, which of course rests on many shoulders: first and foremost the many fantastic students and postdocs I've had the privilege to collaborate with, but also the wider research community near and far. Wolfson has played a central role in my time at Oxford, both on the professional and private side, and I'm grateful for being part of its open community. This recognition is especially welcome during the ongoing cost-of-living crisis; I hope all academic staff will be receiving much-needed, cost-of-living-adjusted support to maintain a thriving community across our institution."