FIVE Jamaicans have been included on the Queen’s birthday honours list, published last month.

They are, William “Bill” Morris, trade unionist; Geoff Palmer, professor; Dr Isadora Aiken, governor at Sheffield Hallam University; Michael Lord, executive director of Sunjuice; and Errol Brown, musician.

In honour of the queen’s birthday — April 21 — awards are presented annually to people who have excelled in their areas of expertise including teaching, nursing, acting, the sciences, diplomacy, broadcasting, among other areas.

Sir William received a Knight Bachelor for his services to the trade union movement. He is the outgoing general-secretary of the Transport and General Workers Union as well as vice-chancellor of the University of Technology (UTech). Originally from Manchester, Sir William is the first black trade union general-secretary.

Listed as one of the most powerful black persons in the United Kingdom (UK), he is an outspoken advocate for equal opportunity, workers rights, race relations and an improved asylum and refugee system.

Meanwhile, Jamaican-born professor, Geoff Palmer, head of brewing and distilling at the Heriot-Watt University in Scotland, received the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for services to grain science.

The Queen’s award is not the first for Palmer, who was named Edinburgh’s citizen of the year in 2002, for his work to improve race relations in Scotland.

He went to the UK as a teenager in the mid 1960s and despite being branded “educationally sub-normal”, worked his way through university to become one of the world’s leading authorities on grain science, brewing and distilling.

Dr Isadora Aiken also received an OBE as she was honoured for services to education and the community.

Appointed a deputy lord lieutenant of South Yorkshire in 2001, Dr Aiken was general manager of the Sheffield and District Afro-Caribbean Community Association. Last year, she was appointed director of the South Yorkshire Women’s Development Trust and is active in numerous community development programmes.

Now serving as a governor at Sheffield Hallam University, Dr Aiken said it was an honour to be awarded an OBE for her work over the years.

Michael Lord, executive director of Sunjuice, also received an OBE for services to industry in South Wales.

Lord, who hails from Old Harbour, St Catherine started Sunjuice Limited with his wife approximately 16 years ago. The company is now a wholly owned subsidiary of the Jamaica Producers Group in Kingston.

The fifth Jamaican — musician Errol Brown — was named Member of the British Empire (MBE) for services to popular music.

Brown, who is of Jamaican parentage, was one of the founders of the group Hot Chocolate, which has become internationally renowned for the song You Sexy Thing, a hit single in the 1970s, and was a feature in the Oscar-winning film The Full Monty.

Approximately 1,500 honours were presented this year.

The largest number of awards were presented to mainly volunteers involved in providing service to their communities.