SOAS Alumni recognised in New Year Honours List 2025
SOAS graduates were recognised for their exceptional contributions and service in The King’s New Year Honours List 2025.
The honours list celebrate the outstanding achievements and commitment to public service of individuals across the UK. This year, five SOAS alumni have been acknowledged for their inspiring work in advancing education, culture, and wellbeing.
The entire SOAS community extends our congratulations to the alumni who have been honoured this year, reflecting our continued excellence and the strength of our global network.
Honours list recipients
Rose Aidin MBE (MA History of Art, 1994)
Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Art History Link-Up. For services to Art History and Young People.
Rose founded Art History Link-Up in 2016 to provide free opportunities for young people from state schools to study art history and to secure the future of Art History as a subject. Currently, fewer than 1% of state schools offer Art History A Level.
With support from funders and supporters, some 600 state students have studied with Art History Link-Up, having life changing experiences and in many cases going on to further study in the arts.
Martin Daltry OBE (MA Near and Middle Eastern Studies, 1998)
Director, United Arab Emirates, British Council. For services to UK Cultural Relations in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
Martin joined the British Council in 1998. He has been posted to Algeria, Egypt, Iraq, Turkey and most recently the Occupied Palestinian Territories. He worked with the Palestinian Ministry of Education and UNRWA to strengthen English teaching and learning in schools, and with Palestinian and UK universities and funding partners to enable more than 100 young Palestinian academics, including around 50 PhD students, to graduate from UK universities since 2018.
He has also worked with the British Council DCMS Cultural Protection Fund programme to safeguard Palestinian heritage under threat.
Emily Halban BEM (Asian Art, 2004)
Co-Founder, A Space Between. For services to Tackling Isolation, Loneliness and Anxiety through Art.
Emily has developed an Art History after-school art programme for children aged 3-11 and worked in primary art education. She has published a memoir of her own recovery and spoken at the International Therapeutic Patient Education Congress (Budapest) on the healing role of the arts in the management of chronic illness.
A Space Between works with hospitals, outpatient units and GP clinics to address isolation, loneliness and anxiety, through open-access, free, therapeutic art programmes for patients and healthcare professionals.
Dr James Hoare OBE (PhD Japanese History, 1971)
Academic and Research Associate from the SOAS Centre of Korean Studies. For services to UK interests in the Korean Peninsula.
A prominent figure in UK-Korea relations, Dr Hoare became an Honorary Research Associate in Korean Studies at SOAS and taught as a fellow following his career in HM Diplomatic Service from 1969 to 2023.
After receiving his PhD in Japanese History from SOAS in 1971, he served at postings in Seoul, Beijing, and Pyongyang, where he supported the opening of the new British Embassy in 2001. Dr Hoare has authored around 37 books and contributed extensively on Japan, the Koreas, and China, with a focus on diplomacy and international law, and remains an active member of the British Korean Society and British Association for Korean Studies.
Edwina Sassoon MBE (Asian Art, 2017)
Arts Consultant. For services to the Visual Arts, Museums and Gardens.
Edwina founded her own arts consultancy in 1990 and has held roles at The Hepworth Wakefield, Friends of the Royal Academy and as a Trustee of the Royal Society of Sculptors and the Garden Museum.
