Lynn Greenwold, chief executive of the Professional Association of Teachers of Students with Specific Learning Difficulties (Patoss), was awarded the OBE for services to pupils with special educational needs.
Greenwold (pictured), who has left Patoss since 2004, is also chair of the Specific Learning Difficulties (SpLD) Assessment Standards Committee. She is also the acting chair of the Dyslexia-SpLD Trust, which aims to promote better awareness and understanding of dyslexia.
She said that she felt “very privileged” to be honoured, “But any achievements have only been possible due to the amazing professional colleagues, a strong team and with Patoss as a platform. Let’s hope it helps us with our campaigns and continue to build good practice.”
Greenwold, from Cincinnati, Ohio, settled in the UK in 1973. She previously worked as a management intern for NASA, as a management consultant, and antique dealer.
After training as a specialist dyslexia teacher she taught and administered programmes for students with learning difficulties and disabilities at South Worcestershire College, where Patoss has its central office.
Senior civil servant Michael Pears, whose career in government departments and local authorities has spanned more than 15 years, was also awarded an OBE.
Currently assistant director of the academies group at the DfE’s Infrastructure and Funding Directorate, Pears has served as a programme manager and departmental risk improvement manager at the department since the late 1990s.
He was assistant director of universal services for the London borough of Hounslow for most of 2010 and early 2011 before returning to Whitehall as deputy head of the Office of the Schools Commissioner.
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