Being the first psychiatrist to receive this honour shows just how far mental health in general, and psychiatry in particular, has advanced since I started my psychiatry training at the Maudsley Hospital back in 1984. I was fortunate to then move to the Institute of Psychiatry in 1991, where I have been ever since. Whatever I have achieved since then would never have been possible without the support of both what is now the IoPPN and the wider King’s College London. But the most important thing of all has been the privilege to work with such generous, talented and extraordinary colleagues over all these years. My thanks to each and every one of you.
Professor Sir Simon Wessely
13 June 2025
Professor Sir Simon Wessely awarded Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire (GBE) in King's Birthday Honours
Sir Simon Wessely, Professor of Psychological Medicine at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience (IoPPN) at King’s College London has been awarded the honour for services to mental health.
Professor Sir Simon Wessely is a world-renowned academic psychiatrist and epidemiologist who trained at the Maudsley and has been with IoPPN and King’s for over 35 years. He was knighted in 2013 for services to military healthcare and psychological medicine, and 2017 became the first Regius Professor of Psychiatry in the country.
The GBE award citation describes Sir Simon as the ‘the pre-eminent psychiatrist of his generation in the UK’. He is a leading figure in global psychiatry, and an advocate for science, education, public engagement and interdisciplinary collaboration .
As well as being a Professor of Psychological Medicine, Sir Simon is currently interim Head of the School of Academic Psychiatry. He established and now co-directs the King’s Centre for Military Health Research, initially set up to explore Gulf War illnesses. Between 2013 and 2021 he was Director of the Public Health England (PHE) National Institute for Health & Care Research (NIHR) Health Protection Unit for Emergency Preparedness and Response, which was very active during the COVID-19 crisis He has over 1,000 professional publications, focussing on psychological medicine and epidemiology, and is also the most published author on military health including long term outcome studies of the impact of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars on UK service personnel.
He was elected President of the Royal College of Psychiatrists and then became the first psychiatrist to be elected President of the Royal Society of Medicine in over 200 years. He led the Independent Review of the Mental Health Act, currently in the final stages of Parliamentary approval. He was appointed to the Board of NHS England in 2023 and was the only person to serve on the COVID-19 Rapid Response Panels for both MRC and ESRC. He is a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences and in 2021 was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society. He has also an Honorary Degree (DSc) from the University of Oxford.
On behalf of the King's community, I extend my warmest congratulations to Professor Sir Simon Wessely on being awarded the Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire (GBE). This exceptional honour is testament to his dedication and transformative contributions to mental health over decades. Sir Simon's remarkable career, from his pioneering work at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience and to his leadership in military health research and his vital role during the COVID-19 pandemic, truly exemplifies the very best of academic excellence and public service.
Professor Shitij Kapur, Vice-Chancellor and President of King’s College London
Professor Sir Simon Wessely’s main areas of research interest have been in unexplained symptoms/syndromes, military health, epidemiology, clinical trials and how populations and people react to adversity. He also has a great interest in interdisciplinary work, and has published with legal academics, historians, sociologists, anthropologists and others.
Alongside his academic work, Professor Sir Simon Wessely has been a regular columnist for The Times, writes regularly for various publications and appears on television and radio often as part of his work improving public knowledge around mental health and illness, and on many other topics around science, medicine and culture. He has appeared on BBC Radio’s The Life Scientific, Private Passions and Desert Island Discs.
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Regius Professor of Psychiatry