Professor of Extra-Galactic Astronomy and Head of our Department of Physics, Carole was nominated from hundreds of inspirational women across the region to attend the West Women of the Year Awards, an event that recognises and celebrates the achievements of the most outstanding women in the region.
Other women on the list include: Dame Jacqueline Wilson, Amy Williams, Lizzie Yarnold and Princess Anne.
The event, held at The Passenger Shed in Bristol on Thursday 12 April, also celebrated a century of women’s suffrage in Britain with a speech by co-founder of Green & Black’s Fairtrade chocolate company, Jo Fairley.
Professor Mundell said: “I was immensely humbled to be counted alongside so many other inspiring and incredible women from all different sectors. Seeing our names up on the screens really hit home the talent, achievement and potential across the West.”
Sarah Pullen, Managing Director of Trinity Mirror South West, which organised the event, said: “In a world which often celebrates ‘celebrity’, these awards set themselves apart by honouring real achievement and diversity.”
Professor Carole Mundell’s research focuses on catching the fast-fading light from gamma ray bursts - the most powerful explosions in the Universe.
She was appointed to a Professorship in 2007 and has held a number of prestigious fellowships including a Royal Society Wolfson Research Merit Award (2011-2016) for the study of black hole-driven explosions and the dynamic Universe. In 2016, she was named FDM Everywoman in Technology Woman of the Year.
Carole has been involved in national and European research funding allocation and strategic oversight of national and international scientific facilities.
She is a committed communicator of science to the public and advocate for diversity in science.
The event was staged as a partnership between Trinity Mirror’s titles across the South West region, including the Bristol Post, Bath Chronicle, Western Daily Press, Gloucester Citizen and Gloucestershire Echo newspapers.