Portsmouth Professor Awarded MBE by the queen

Professor Mike Tipton has received an MBE from The Queen at a special investiture ceremony at Windsor Castle. The Portsmouth University Prof was awarded the MBE in the 2018 New Year’s Honours list for ‘services to research and teaching’ in extreme environmental physiology and research in drowning prevention. “The event was a very special day for my family and me. The icing on the cake was that the Queen was going to be presiding over the ceremony,” Professor Tipton said. “I wasn’t nervous to start, but by the time I had been briefed about what to do and not do I began to wonder if I could remember the protocol. I was not alone, all around me others were practicing curtseys and bows” the worried academic said. “It all went off without a hitch. It all seem a bit like a dream now, but I will not forget the day. Nor will I forget the friendship and support that so many colleagues, friends and family have given me over the years; it is undoubtedly this that made the day possible in the first place,” he added. Professor Tipton is the UK’s leading cold water survival expert. The Professor of Human and Applied Physiology at Portsmouth Uni is also the Director of Research for the Department of Sport and Exercise Science where he leads the University’s Extreme Environments Laboratory. Amngst his many achevements spanning a 35-year career, Mike has helped UK swimmers prepare for the Beijing Olympics, worked with the RNLI to save countless lives at sea and helped Hollywood stars Jake Gyllenhaal and Josh Brolin to prepare for filming in freezing high altitude conditions for the film Everest.

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