Historian Olwen Hufton is the sole standard bearer for the arts among a plethora of eminent scientists recognised at the head of the Queen's Birthday Honours, writes Paul Hill.
Professor Hufton, emeritus fellow of Merton College, Oxford, is made a dame, while seven of the ten newly appointed knights are rewarded for their services to the sciences and medicine.
The list has so far aroused none of the controversy of the New Year Honours, which were overshadowed by claims that Colin Blakemore, chief executive of the Medical Research Council, had been passed over for a knighthood because of his support for medically linked animal experiments.
Nobel prizewinning physicist Anthony Leggett is among those to receive a knighthood, along with Alan Craft of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Newcastle University.
In all, there were 15 MBEs, 21 CBEs and 24 OBEs with links to higher and further education.
KBE
Anthony Leggett, University of Illinois, for services to physics. Alan Craft, Royal College of Paediatrics and professor of child health, Newcastle University, for services to medicine.
Peter Crane, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
Peter Harper, formerly professor of medical genetics, University of Wales College of Medicine, Cardiff, for services to medicine.
John Lewis, principal of Dixons City Technology College, Bradford, for services to education.
John Pendry, Imperial College London, for services to science.
Nicholas Stern, former chief economist, World Bank, and London School of Economics, for services to economics.
Geoffrey Wakeford, chairman of the governing board of Walsall City Academy, for services to education.
David Wallace, for services to UK science, technology and engineering.
Gregory Winter, Medical Research Council Laboratory of Molecular Biology, for services to molecular biology.
Dame
Olwen Hufton, emeritus fellow Merton College, Oxford, for services to history.
CBE
Michael Batty, director, Centre for Advanced Spatial Analysis, University College London, for services to geography.
Ian Bruce, former director of the Royal National Institute for the Blind, for services to the blind and partially sighted.
David Chipperfield, architect, for services to architecture.
John Croxall, head of conservation biology, British Antarctic Survey, for services to ornithology.
Haydn Ellis, deputy vice-chancellor, University of Wales Cardiff, for services to higher education.
Farieda Fortune, professor of oral medicine, Queen Mary, University of London, for services to dentistry.
Christopher Ham, health and policy management, Birmingham University, for services to the National Health Service.
David Haslam, chair of the Royal College of General Practitioners, for services to healthcare.
Gavin Henderson, principal, Trinity College of Music, and chair, National Foundation for Youth Music, for services to music and the arts.
Anne Lonsdale, president of New Hall, Cambridge, for services to higher education.
Joe McGeehan, director of the Centre of Communications Research, Bristol University, for services to the communications industry.
William McGinnis, lately chair of the Learning and Skills Board, for services to training and business in Northern Ireland.
Marion North-McNamara, lately principal and chief executive, Laban Centre, London, for services to dance.
Jean Orr, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Queen's University Belfast, for services to nursing education.
David Payne, director of Optoelectronics Research Centre, Southampton University, for services to photonics.
John Pickett, biological chemistry division, Rothamsted Research Station, for services to biological chemistry.
Phil Redmond, television writer, producer and visiting professor at Liverpool John Moores University, for services to drama.
Paul Sabapathy, pro-chancellor, University of Central England, for services to education and business in the West Midlands.
Annette Karmiloff-Smith, head of the Neurocognitive Development Unit, Institute for Child Health, for services to cognitive development.
William Stevely, principal and vice-chancellor, Robert Gordon University, for services to higher education.
John Wilesmith, head of the epidemiology department, Veterinary Laboratories Agency.
Nairn Wilson, dean and head, Guy's, King's and St Thomas' Dental Institute, King's College London, for services to dentistry and healthcare regulation.
Ewart Wooldridge, chief executive of the Leadership Foundation for Higher Education, for services to leadership and management development.
OBE
Robin Baker, director of Ravensbourne College of Design and Communication, for services to higher education.
Richard Brook, president of the Sira Group, for services to the UK space industry.
Susan Buckley, director of research and training, the Down's Syndrome Education Trust, for services to special needs education.
David Chadwick, chairman of the Secretary of State for Transport's Honorary Medical Advisory Panel, for services to road safety.
John Davidson, director of administration and clerk of the council, University of London, for services to higher education.
Caroline Dean, associate research director, John Innes Centre, Norwich, for services to plant sciences.
Charles Downes, dean of life sciences, Dundee University, for services to life sciences.
John Good, chair of the Forestry Commission Wales Advisory Committee, for services to the environment.
Christopher Haslett, respiratory medicine, Edinburgh University, for services to medical research.
Frank Hodgkinson, director of the Centre for Capital Punishment Studies, Westminster University Law School, for services to the promotion of human rights.
Sally Howes, director-general of the Society of British Aerospace Companies, for services to the UK space industry.
Alexander Johnston, Advisory Committee on the Microbiological Safety of Food, for services to food safety.
David Kissman, chair of Corporation of Broxtowe College, Nottingham, for services to further education.
John Knott, Health and Safety Commission, Nuclear Safety Advisory Committee, for services to nuclear safety.
David Leech, director of programme operations, Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, for services to scientific administration.
Howell Lloyd, deputy vice-chancellor, Hull University, for services to higher education.
Anthony May, director of the Institute for Transport Studies, Leeds University, for services to transport engineering.
Jean McIntosh, director of the Nursing and Midwifery Research Centre, Glasgow Caledonian University, for services to healthcare.
Richard Pankhurst, for services to Ethiopian studies.
Peter Roberts, Liverpool University, for services to regeneration and to urban and regional planning.
Elizabeth Simpson, deputy director of the Medical Research Council Clinical Sciences Centre, for services to biomedical research.
Linda Thomas, editor-in-chief, Royal College of Nursing Publishing Company, for services to nursing.
Mohammed Wahab, managing director of Delta Microelectronics and professor of electronic engineering, Glamorgan University, for services to electronic engineering.
Linda Ward, director of the Norah Fry Research Centre, Bristol University, for services to children and disabled people.
Peter White, consultant psychiatrist, St Bartholomew's Hospital, for services to medical education.
MBE
Sybil Green, head of the Student Advisory Service, University of Wales, Cardiff, for services to higher education.
Madeline Hallendorf, chief executive of the Royal College of Ophthalmologists, for services to ophthalmology.
Anthony Harrison, for services to solar research.
Kathleen Harrison, manager, Philharmonic Court student residences, Liverpool University, for services to higher education.
Ruth Hunt, head of technical services, Medical Research Council Clinical Sciences Centre, for services to science.
John Knowles, widening participation coordinator, Lincoln University, for services to higher education.
Michael Martin, senior lecturer and honorary consultant, oral microbiology Liverpool University, for services to dentistry.
Henry Mason, deputy principal, Qualifications and Learning Policy Branch, Department for Employment and Learning, Northern Ireland.
Mary Payne, gardening consultant and lecturer, for services to horticulture in the South West.
Stephen Salter, engineering design, Edinburgh University, for services to engineering.
Susan Saunders, senior assistant college secretary, King's College London, for services to higher education.
Margaret Sedwell, finance manager, Wimbledon School of Art, for services to higher education.
Peter Smith, formerly science sector head, Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, for services to scientific administration.
Vincent Smith, reader in physics, Bristol University, for services to physics.
Dolores Stinsin, Armagh College of Further Education, for services to further education and the community in Armagh.
Lorna Tyson, director of business and enterprise, Myerscough College, Preston, for services to rural enterprise in the North West.