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Notes on higher awards in the King's Birthday Honours 2024 Overseas and International List

Published 14 June 2024

KCMG: Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George

Tariq, Baron AHMAD OF WIMBLEDON

The Prime Minister’s Special Representative for Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict and Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.

Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon is a distinguished, experienced and widely respected Foreign Minister of State and diplomat, British businessman, community leader, and life peer. He is recognised for his outstanding contributions across various domains, most notably in foreign policy and development, as one of the longest serving British Foreign Ministers in over 50 years, as well as for his contributions to faith and integration. His commitment to public service in the UK is exemplary and he’s widely respected internationally, across communities and the political spectrum, having made a significant and lasting impact during his continuous ministerial tenure, over the last 12 years.

William (Bill) BROWDER

Chief Executive Officer, Hermitage Capital Management, and Head, Global Magnitsky Justice Campaign. 

Bill Browder is recognised for an exceptional contribution to human rights, anti-corruption and international affairs. Following the death of Mr Browder’s colleague Sergei Magnitsky, whilst in custody in Russia in 2009, Mr Browder led a campaign for the US congress to introduce the Magnitsky Act, which allowed them to impose sanctions on Russians involved in human rights violations. Since then, the UK, the European Union, Canada and Australia have all implemented similar legislation, allowing them to impose targeted sanctions on individuals and entities involved in serious corruption or human rights violations or abuses.  

Alex ELLIS CMG

Lately British High Commissioner to India.

Alex Ellis is recognised for his outstanding contribution to the bilateral partnership between the UK and India, as well as leading one of the largest UK overseas networks in the world, including through COVID. His achievements in India build on his excellent leadership in one of the most challenging roles at the Department for Exiting the European Union following the referendum, in his work on the 2021 Integrated Review of defence, security, development and diplomacy and a successful 4 years as the UK’s Ambassador to Brazil, including overseeing HM Government’s preparation for Brazil hosting the Olympics and the FIFA World Cup.

Keith PALMER, OBE

Chair, Trustees of Enterprise for Development and former Chair, AgDevCo, InfraCo Africa and InfraCo Asia.

​Keith Palmer is recognised for his longstanding and sustained leadership, innovation and impact in international development. Throughout his career he has demonstrated effectively how to collaborate with the private sector to achieve development goals and bring about lasting change to the lives of millions of people in some of the poorest countries in Africa and Asia. Consequently, helping to establish the UK as a global leader in this sector.​

Dr Andrew STEER

President and Chief Executive Officer, Bezos Earth Fund.

Andrew Steer is recognised for his sustained contribution as one of the world’s best-known practice-based leaders in global sustainable development economics, with a focus on climate change and poverty reduction. His impact during decades of service to the UK and internationally in senior roles at the Department for International Development, the World Bank, the World Resources Institute and the Bezos Earth Fund, has been hugely significant and brought great credit to the UK.

Knight Bachelor

Professor Roderick BEATON

Writer and Historian.

Professor Roderick Beaton is recognised for his long and distinguished academic career, which has forged strong links between the people of the United Kingdom and Greece through pioneering research on Greek literature, culture and history and made him an expert in his field. His books on modern Greece and Greeks, including highly acclaimed biographies of prominent figures in British and Greek history, are widely read in both English and Greek and help build strong, durable cultural and people to people links between the two countries as well as inspiring others to study and research Greek history. 

 Dr M Stanley WHITTINGHAM

Professor of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Binghamton, New York, United States of America.

Professor M Stanley Whittingham is recognised for an outstanding and sustained contribution to chemistry. His invention of the lithium-ion battery, recognised with a Nobel Prize in 2019, stands out as one of only a few technological advances in recent decades that has changed the lives of almost everyone on the planet. Without it, we would not have the mobile telephones, or tablets, of today, technological breakthroughs that have brought communications to large parts of the developed and, crucially, the developing world.