The 38-year-old London-born Apple employee was named a Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (CBE) on Saturday.

He began working for the Cupertino, California-based computer maker in 1992, but his first big success came after Steve Jobs returned in 1997 to lead the company he had co-founded with Steve Wozniak. Mr. Jobs reinvigorated Apple by introducing the iMac designed by Mr. Ive in 1998.

The unusual look of the iMac, with its translucent blue views of the interior of the rounded monitor, echoed by its rounded partially translucent mouse, inspired imitators not only within the computer industry, but in numerous consumer goods as well, which began sprouting more colorful looks.

Mr. Ives also led the design of Apple’s subsequent trendsetting products, including the iBook, Power Mac, PowerBook, Mac Mini, and its biggest hit, the iPod. The iPod now holds more than 80 percent of the market among digital music players and has sold more than 22.32 million units.

Queen Elizabeth is an iPod user, as is President George W. Bush.

Sales of iPod players remain strong and were up 500 percent in 2005 compared to 2004. Apple shipped 6.5 million iPods, including more than 1 million iPod nanos, introduced in early September. That’s 220 percent growth from the same quarter a year ago.

The music players accounted for $1.2 billion of all of Apple’s revenue for the fourth quarter (see Apple Q4 Revenue Disappoints).

They were big sellers this past holiday season too, along with new models like the video-enabled iPod, and the iPod nano, the successor to the iPod Mini (see ’Tis the (iPod) Season).

Mr. Ives played a role in the design of all the different iPods as well.

“We are proud as can be that Jony is receiving such a prestigious commendation,” said Apple in a statement quoted by the BBC.

CBE and OBE Awardees

The CBE was created by King George V as a way to honor British subjects who had served the empire in different noncombatant duties during World War I. In 1918, the Order was divided into both civil and military divisions.

Many of the other recipients of the CBE this New Year included people who assisted Londoners after the London bombings in July (see London Bombings Move Markets). They included police transport workers and emergency crews.

Other CBE awardees this New Year included singer Tom Jones, TV chef Gordon Ransay, playwright Arnold Wesker, jazz musician John Dankworth, BBC Radio chief Liz Forgan, writer Jeanette Winterson, and TV star Bruce Forsyth.

Recipients of the OBE (Order of the British Empire) award included actors Imelda Staunton, Robbie Coltrane, and Sanjeev Bhaskar.

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