Education leader and university professor awarded MBE in King’s New Year Honours
A former chief executive who helped transform secondary education across South Lincolnshire has been recognised in the King’s New Year Honours List.
Lucy Conley, who retired at the end of 2025 after 35 years in education, has been awarded an MBE for services to education. The honour recognises one of two people in our area who make a significant contribution at a local or regional level.
Mrs Conley served as Chief Executive Officer of South Lincolnshire Academies Trust, where she led the turnaround of three previously failing non-selective secondary schools. Spalding Academy, Giles Academy and Cowley Academy had all been graded Inadequate or Requiring Improvement before joining the Trust, but under her leadership each was rated ‘Good’ at their first Ofsted inspection, with rapid improvements seen educationally, pastorally and financially.
The Trust has since built an outstanding reputation. It is ranked number one in the East Midlands by the Department for Education and sits within the top six per cent of multi-academy trusts nationally. It is also the only trust in the region performing well above average, with Bourne Academy now the highest-performing non-selective secondary school in Lincolnshire.
Speaking about the award, Mrs Conley said she felt “immensely honoured” and described the recognition as a fitting end to a “highly rewarding” career focused on student wellbeing and success.
Chair of Trustees Will Hawkins praised her leadership, saying her legacy of excellence will continue to shape the future of the Trust and the lives of young people across the region.
- Professor Simon Pearson, founding Director of the University of Lincoln’s Lincoln Institute for Agri-Food Technology (LIAT), has also been awarded an MBE in the 2026 New Year Honours for services to Agricultural Innovation and Education.
Nominated by the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA), Professor Pearson, who grew up and still lives in Freiston near Boston in Lincolnshire, receives the honour in recognition of his transformative work in agri-tech research, innovation and sustainability in UK farming.
Professor Pearson said: “I am extremely grateful and proud to win this award. My journey started in Lincolnshire as the son of a farming family and continues at the University of Lincoln. The agricultural industry is, and has always been, driven by innovation.
“We are now trying to accelerate this by bringing to bear science from at least 50 different disciplines, creating new technologies for the next generation of farmers, not least robotics and the use of artificial intelligence. I hope these technologies benefit not only famers but also consumers and help underpin food security for all.”