Professor Tessa Baker, who investigates dark energy and the laws of gravity, is one of 50 people across the UK recognised this year for leading with kindness by Women of the Future
A University of Portsmouth cosmologist who studies the unseen forces shaping the Universe has been recognised as a force in her own right - for kindness, and for the way she shapes the people around her.
Professor Tessa Baker, of the University's Institute of Cosmology and Gravitation (ICG), has been named on the 2026 Kindness & Leadership: 50 Leading Lights UK list, alongside 49 other inspiring individuals, including The Apprentice finalist Susie Ma. The campaign, run by the Women of the Future programme, celebrates leaders across business, science, public service and the arts who make a difference to others through kindness.
For Professor Baker, the recognition completes a circle. In 2015, as a postdoctoral fellow at All Souls College, Oxford, she won the Women of the Future Award for Science, which celebrates the UK's most promising young women. Eleven years on, the same organisation has honoured her as a leader who now builds up the next generation of researchers herself.
I’m really grateful to my team for nominating me for the Leading Lights List. I believe kindness isn’t a soft extra in leadership - it’s how you get the best out of people. Some of my brilliant early-career mentees will be leading teams of their own soon, and I know they’ll pass on the kindness rules ethic."
Professor Baker said: "I’m really grateful to my team for nominating me for the Leading Lights List. I believe kindness isn’t a soft extra in leadership - it’s how you get the best out of people. Some of my brilliant early-career mentees will be leading teams of their own soon, and I know they’ll pass on the kindness rules ethic."
At Portsmouth, Professor Baker leads a research group working on one of the biggest open questions in physics: is Einstein's theory of gravity the full story? Observations show the expansion of the Universe is speeding up, a puzzle usually attributed to a mysterious 'dark energy'. Professor Baker tests whether gravity itself might behave differently across the largest cosmic distances.
She has held a Royal Society University Research Fellowship since 2019, and is a member of the LIGO Scientific Collaboration, the LISA space mission consortium, the Euclid mission and the Vera C. Rubin Observatory.
She is also a familiar voice in public science, having appeared on BBC's The Sky at Night and in video features for New Scientist explaining new ideas about the nature of dark energy.
A leader whose support is both practical and personal
Professor Baker was nominated by colleagues at Portsmouth. Her nomination describes a leader whose support is both practical and personal.
Colleagues say she gives her team expert guidance while leaving them the creative space to pursue their own ideas, and that she will offer honest, selfless advice even when a decision runs against her own interests. She has also opened up her professional network to introduce the researchers she mentors to leading scientists around the world.
Her research has attracted more than £3 million in funding, including a European Research Council grant, a Fulbright scholarship and several Royal Society awards. At Portsmouth she also runs the ICG’s weekly seminar series, bringing internationally renowned speakers to share their science with colleagues and students.
Professor David Bacon, Director of the University of Portsmouth's ICG, said: "Tessa is a completely outstanding scientist, but what her colleagues and students talk about is how generous she is with her time, and how she makes people feel they belong in Physics. This recognition is richly deserved, and it reflects the kind of research culture we want the ICG to be known for."
About Kindness & Leadership: 50 Leading Lights
Kindness & Leadership: 50 Leading Lights was founded by Pinky Lilani CBE DL, who also founded Women of the Future. It was launched in 2018 to challenge traditional ideas of 'strong leadership' and to show that kindness drives performance as well as wellbeing.
Previous Leading Lights include former England men's football manager Gareth Southgate, named on the inaugural 2018 list, and Jürgen Klopp, then manager of Liverpool FC, in 2019. Former Unilever chief executive Alan Jope was recognised in 2021. The campaign now also runs an Asia Pacific list.
The 2026 UK list is run in association with Capital One, with partners the Financial Times and Saïd Business School, University of Oxford. The judging panel is chaired by Princess Badiya bint El Hassan. Nominees must be endorsed by their nominator and at least two other people.
Pinky Lilani said kindness is "much more than a feel-good gesture - it's a strategic advantage", adding that this year's listees turn workplaces into places where both people and organisations flourish.
Professor Baker is one of several academics on this year's list, alongside leaders from PwC, EY, Bupa, the London Stock Exchange Group and the NHS.
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