Director of Confucius Institute at UCL Institute of Education Wins Officer of Order of British Empire Award

According the website of the British government, Katharine Carruthers, Director of the Confucius Institute at the University College London (UCL) Institute of Education (IOE), has recently been awarded Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for the outstanding contributions she herself and the team she leads made to British education.

Katharine Carruthers is an expert in Chinese teaching in the UK and the present Pro-Vice-Provost (East Asia) at UCL. Since she took the position as Director of the Confucius Institute in 2007, she has been vigorously promoting the establishment of courses concerning Chinese language and culture in British primary and secondary schools. Such courses are greatly welcomed by students and the public for their high-quality Chinese language teaching and plentiful activities of Chinese culture. In 2016, the British government poured ￡10 million into launching the Mandarin Excellence Programme (MEP). The Institute at UCL Institute of Education (IOE) and the British Council were committed to the implementation of the Programme, with Carruthers being its chief director.

Headed by Carruthers, the Confucius Institute at the UCL Institute of Education (IOE) has been conferred “Confucius Institute of the Year” and “Confucius Classroom of the Year” and other awards by the Confucius Institute Headquarters (Hanban) for multiple times. Carruthers alone was awarded “Confucius Institute Individual Performance Excellence Award” by the Headquarters. She had also been awarded “Confucius Institute Outstanding Contribution Award” before, the highest honor bestowed by the Headquarters. In 2013, the Confucius Institute at UCL Institute of Education was awarded Global Model Confucius Institute by the Confucius Institute Headquarters. Carruthers was awarded OBE as the director of the Confucius Institute, marking the first time for the British Royal Family to confer OBE to such individual.

Carruthers expressed that the award indicates that her work, and more importantly, the overall teaching performance of Confucius Institutes in the UK are highly recognized by the British Royal Family and the public. With this, the brand awareness and influence of the Confucius Institute will be further improved in the UK, thus attracting more schools to establish courses concerning Chinese language and culture.

Note: Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) is an order of chivalry under the British honors system. OBE receivers are confirmed by the British Royal Family every year. It is the Queen who confers the award, rewarding those working in different areas for their prominent contributions.