One of the world’s most popular writers, a space pilot, and the leader of one of the UK’s leading food manufacturers, Baxters of Speyside, are among those to be honoured by the University of Aberdeen at its Summer Graduation Ceremonies next month.
In all, the University will award honorary doctorates to 20 leading figures in the arts, science, medicine, religion, and industry in this year’s graduation ceremonies which take place in Aberdeen’s Marischal College from Monday, July 3 - Friday, July 7, 2006.
Professor C Duncan Rice, Principal and Vice-Chancellor of the University, is looking forward to welcoming this year’s distinguished honorary graduands, and said: "The University of Aberdeen is delighted to recognise the achievements of such distinguished and talented individuals and we welcome them all warmly to the University family as Honorary Graduates."
Joanne Rowling, better known as JK Rowling, the author of the internationally acclaimed Harry Potter series, is delighted to be receiving a Doctor of Laws (LLD).
Speaking ahead of next month’s ceremony, she said: “I am extremely honoured to be receiving this Honorary Degree from such a distinguished Scottish University, with such a dynamic international reputation.
In December 2002, the University announced the launch of a new MS Society Senior Fellowship. In a new approach to research, the MS Society awarded a grant to the Institution to create a special MS Research Group, met by a substantial donation from JK Rowling, who is Patron of the MS Society Scotland.
She added: “I am also particularly pleased to support the work that the University’s Institute of Medical Sciences is doing on MS research. As the patron of the MS Society Scotland, and someone with personal experience of the devastating effects of MS, it is a great privilege to be able to help the Institute continue its pioneering work into the causes and effects of multiple sclerosis.”
Recipients at next month’s ceremonies include:
Monday, July 3 at 3.00pm
Brian Binnie (DHC)
Pioneer of 21st Century spaceflight and First Scot in Space
Mr Binnie is very excited to be returning to Aberdeen and to be able to share a special day with family and friends when he receives a Doctor Honoris Causa (DHC). He will be attending July’s graduation ceremony with his wife, two of his children, his parents, sister, and two aunts, along with special friends, including Virgin Galactic President, Will Whitehorn, and Susan Newsam, Virgin Galactic Vice-President of Marketing (both are University of Aberdeen graduates).
Mr Binnie said: “It is extremely rewarding for me to be recognised by the University of Aberdeen. This is where I grew up and this is where I nurtured my dreams, learned how to work and play and shape my surroundings. To be able to return with my parents is a proud and fulfilling occasion that gives us all a strong sense of closure and accomplishment."
Monday, July 3, at 3.00pm
John Lawton (DSc)
Chair of the Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution
Sir John Lawton is chair of the Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution, the independent standing body established in 1970 to advise the Queen, the Government, Parliament and the public on environmental issues. Professor Lawton made his academic career as an ecologist. His scientific interests are wide, but have focused on the population dynamics and biodiversity of birds and insects, with emphasis over the last decade of the impacts of global environmental change on wild plants and animals. He was awarded the first President's Gold Medal of the British Ecological Society in 1987 and the Japan Prize for Science and Technology for Conservation of Biodiversity in 2004. He is also a former Chief Executive of the Natural Environment Research Council.
Monday, July 3, at 6.30pm
Audrey Baxter (LLD)
Chairman and CEO of Baxters Food Group
Audrey Baxter leads one of the United Kingdom’s premier food manufacturers. Named Businesswoman of the Year in the Scottish Business Insider Elite Awards in 2004, she has received plaudits for raising the Scottish firm's profile in the international market and doubling the size of Baxters Food Group. She was appointed Managing Director of Baxters in 1992 and assumed full control of the family firm in 1997. She has also been a director of Badenoch & Strathspey Enterprise Company and of the Scottish Exhibition Centre, a member of the General Council of the BBC and a member of the BBC Scotland Select Committee.
Tuesday, July 4, at 11.00am
W F H (Bill) Nicolaisen (DHC)
Distinguished scholar in folklore and contemporary urban legends
W F H (Bill) Nicolaisen has been an Honorary Research Professor at the University of Aberdeen since 1992. He is a distinguished scholar, whose interests include folklore and place names. An authority on contemporary urban legends, Bill Nicolaisen is a former President of the Folklore Society. He has also been a Visiting Professor at the Ohio State University, the University of Aarhus (Denmark) and the University of Edinburgh. Professor Nicolaisen is one of the most respected and popular scholars working in onomastics, the study of proper names of all kinds and the origins of names, and is the author of several works on Scottish Place-Names. In addition to these books, he has published more than 700 articles and reviews.
Tuesday, July 4, at 11.00am
Andrew Motion (DLitt)
Poet Laureate
Andrew Motion has been Poet Laureate since May 1999. More recently he was appointed Professor of Creative Writing at Royal Holloway, University of London. His poetry collections include Independence (1981); Secret Narratives (1983); Dangerous Play: Poems 1974-1984 (1984), which won the Mail on Sunday/John Llewellyn Rhys Prize; Natural Causes (1987), which won the Dylan Thomas Award; The Price of Everything (1994); Salt Water (1997) and Selected Poems 1976-1997 (1998). Andrew Motion is also the author of several acclaimed biographies including The Lamberts: George, Constant and Kit (1986), which won a Somerset Maugham Award – and Philip Larkin: A Writer's Life (1993), which won the Whitbread Biography Award. He has been Chairman of the Arts Council of England's Literature Panel since 1996 and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. He also appeared at Word – the University of Aberdeen Writers Festival in May 2003.
Tuesday, July 4, at 3.00pm
David Irvine-Halliday (DHC)
Professor of Electrical & Computer Engineering, University of Calgary
Dr David Irvine-Halliday, an Aberdeen graduate, is a professor of Electrical & Computer Engineering at the University of Calgary. Dr Irvine-Halliday is internationally known for his Light up the World (LUTW) project. His humanitarian and social enterprise initiative was originally aimed at providing home lighting in rural Nepal, using White Light Emitting Diodes. LUTW has become a pioneer and world leader in utilising Solid-State Lighting technologies to bring affordable, safe, near permanent and environmentally sustainable home lighting solutions to the one third of humanity living in virtual darkness after sundown. Dr Irvine-Halliday's project now brings low-cost and efficient lighting to more than 4000 homes in Nepal, Sri Lanka, India, Bolivia, the Philippines and the Dominican Republic. Additionally, in January 2005, he launched an appeal for $50,000 to supply 1,000 solar-powered lighting systems to tsunami relief camps in Sri Lanka.
Tuesday, July 4, at 6.30pm
Robert May (DSc)
Lord May of Oxford
Robert May, Professor Lord May of Oxford completed his five-year term as President of the Royal Society in 2005. He presently holds a professorship jointly in the Department of Zoology, University of Oxford and Imperial College, London. Lord May's current research deals with factors influencing the diversity and abundance of plant and animal species, and with the rates, causes and consequences of extinction. He has won a number of international awards for his research. Between 1995 and 2000 he was Chief Scientific Adviser to the UK Government and Head of the Office of Science and Technology. He became a member of the UK House of Lords in 2001 and was appointed to be a member of the Order of Merit in 2002.
Tuesday, July 4, at 6.30pm
Daleep Mukarji (LLD)
Director of Christian Aid
Daleep Mukarji was born in Lahore, now a city of Pakistan, before India was partitioned in 1947. He was brought up in Hyderabad and trained as a doctor at the Christian Medical College in Vellore, South India. Dr Mukarji worked in the treatment of leprosy and then ran a small mission hospital in rural Andrah Pradesh where he witnessed at first hand the problems facing the people there. From 1975 to 1976 he pursued post-graduate study in London, gaining a Diploma in Tropical Public Health, and a Master's degree in social planning. In 1977 he returned to India to establish a rural health and community development programme. In 1985 he was appointed General Secretary of the Christian Medical Association of India. He became Executive Secretary for Health, Community and Justice at the World Council of Churches in Geneva in 1994. Daleep Mukarji became Director of Christian Aid in 1998 and has since sought to expand the organisation's influence and to change public perception of the charity's work.
Wednesday, July 5, at 11.00am
Donald Macdonald (DHC)
Chairman of Macdonald Hotels plc
Donald J Macdonald has spent his entire career in the hotel industry, working his way through the ranks to his current position as founder and Executive Chairman of Macdonald Hotels plc. Mr Macdonald is responsible for the company’s development and expansion, creating the largest hotel group in Scotland. The son of a crofter, Donald J Macdonald was born and brought up on Harris in the Western Isles. Donald J Macdonald joined the Stakis organisation in 1969 after working in various positions in Scottish hotels. Within just two years he had become a hotel manager and was soon overseeing the opening of new properties for the company. A regional role with responsibility for Scotland and the north of England followed and ultimately he headed the Stakis Hotels & Inns division. Mr Macdonald stayed with Stakis for 20 years, leaving to establish Macdonald Hotels in 1990.
Wednesday, July 5, at 11.00am
David Reid (LLD)
Non-executive Chairman of Tesco
David Reid became Non-executive Chairman of Tesco in 2004. The Reid family have strong links with the North-east of Scotland which David Reid has maintained. After qualifying as a Chartered Accountant at Aberdeen, David Reid held numerous roles including Chief Accountant for Philips Video and Group Financial Controller and Finance Director of International Stores Limited. In 1985 he joined Tesco as Finance Director and subsequently assumed responsibility for IT, Distribution and Business Development. In June 1993 he was appointed Deputy Chairman with responsibility for Tesco's overseas development and operations in Central Europe, Ireland and Asia, and Group Strategic Planning. David Reid has played a pivotal role in advancing Tesco’s status as the UK’s pre-eminent food retailer.
Wednesday, July 5, at 3.00pm
Sandy McCall Smith (DLitt)
Best-selling author and Emeritus Professor of Medical Law, University of Edinburgh
Alexander (‘Sandy’) McCall Smith is Emeritus Professor of Medical Law at the University of Edinburgh, and Deputy Chair of the Human Genetics Commission. He is distinguished in the field of medical law and enjoys a second career as a writer of popular fiction. His main areas of interest are in the fields of medical law and criminal law. He is also the author of several books on criminal law, including a book on the criminal law of Botswana. He is also a well-known author of novels, short stories and childrens' books. His series of novels set in Botswana and featuring the female detective, Mma Ramotswe, have proved to be extremely popular in this country and the United States with more than 3.5million copies in print in the US alone. He also appeared at Word – the University of Aberdeen Writers Festival in May 2004.
Wednesday, July 5, at 3.00pm
Andrew Salvesen (LLD)
Businessman and former member of the University Court
Andrew Salvesen, Chairman and Director of Findrack Properties Ltd and Findrack (Investments) Ltd, is a former member of the University Court. Mr Salvesen joined the family firm Christian Salvesen plc as a Management Trainee in 1970, following three years in the Merchant Navy. He worked in the Seafoods Division in Canada and Peru and for 17 years he was responsible for the development of the Company's oilfield technology services interests headquartered in Aberdeen. Salvesen (Oilfield Technology) Ltd achieved market leadership for tubular and related well services in Europe and in 1990 won the Scottish Offshore achievement Award for best overall performance. Mr Salvesen is a member of the Council of the Sail Training Association, and serves on the Board of the National Trust for Scotland. He is concerned with the stewardship of the countryside and youth development, giving philanthropic support to his interests through the Andrew Salvesen Charitable Trust.
Thursday, July 6, at 11.00am
Peter Boyle (DSc)
Professor of Cancer Epidemiology, Birmingham University
Professor Peter Boyle is Professor of Cancer Epidemiology at Birmingham University, Honorary Professor of Cancer Prevention at Oxford University and Visiting Professor at Glasgow University. In January 2004 he became the Director of the International Agency for Research on Cancer in Lyon, France. His main research interests lie in disease prevention and he is particularly interested in the association between tobacco, nutrition, hormones and cancer risk and how this risk is affected by genetic susceptibility. In 2000, he was honoured by the award of the Knight's Cross of Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland, for contribution to Public Health in Poland, and by election to Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh.
Thursday, July 6, at 11.00am
JK Rowling (LLD)
Best-selling ‘Harry Potter’ author
Joanne Rowling, better known as JK Rowling, is the author of the internationally acclaimed Harry Potter series. JK Rowling initially worked as a researcher and bilingual secretary for Amnesty International and subsequently taught English as a foreign language in Portugal. In 1994, she and her daughter moved to Edinburgh. A year later JK Rowling had completed the manuscript for Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. This was the first step in a publishing phenomenon. The first six books have sold more than 300 million copies worldwide having been translated into 64 languages in over 200 territories and have also been followed by four films to date. Multiple awards apart, the Harry Potter books have attracted a huge number of children and younger adults to enjoy reading, and they have dispelled the myth that children lack the attention span to engage with longer books. JK Rowling is also patron of the MS Society Scotland as her own mother’s life was claimed by progressive multiple sclerosis. Through the MS Society, JK Rowling has given her backing to research in Scottish universities to try to unlock the mysteries of MS and ultimately to seek a cure.
Thursday, July 6, at 3.00pm
Bernard Aubertin (DHC)
Internationally renowned organ builder
Bernard Aubertin is one of the world's leading organ builders. His status has been recognised in his native country of France by the title of Maître d'art Facture d'Orgues – the highest accolade ever given by France to an organ builder. The young Aubertin acquired his taste for woodworking in his father's workshop at Elvange, Moselle and subsequently became a student at the Strasbourg School of Decorative Arts. He trained with several organ builders before starting his own firm at the age of 25. Although Mr Aubertin's work is to be found in many countries, his first commission in the United Kingdom was awarded by the University of Aberdeen. The University Chapel of King's College is now home to a fine Aubertin organ of classical design and traditional craftsmanship - in keeping with original concept of the 500-year-old chapel.
Thursday, July 6, at 3.00pm
Alan Main (DD)
Former Moderator of the Church of Scotland
The Very Reverend Professor Alan Main, formerly Professor of Practical Theology at the University of Aberdeen and Master of Christ's College, Aberdeen, served as Moderator of the Church of Scotland from 1998 to 1999. Professor Main has been much involved in educational, city, community and church affairs as a Vice-Convener of the Church of Scotland, Committee on Education for the Ministry, a member of Aberdeenshire Educational Committee and of the Church of Scotland's Assembly Council. He has also been chairman of Grampian Marriage Guidance, Cruse Bereavement Care and the NE Council on Disability adviser in religious programming to Grampian TV, and a member and chairman of the Joint Ethical Committee of Grampian Health Board and the University of Aberdeen. He also served for twenty years as a Chaplain with 153 Artillery Support Regiment, Royal Corps of Transport.
Thursday, July 6, at 6.30pm
Nicola LeFanu (DMus)
Professor of Music, University of York
Nicola LeFanu has been Professor of Music at the University of York since 1994. After her studies at Oxford, she spent a year at the Royal College of Music in London, where she won a Cobbett Prize with the Oboe Quartet in 1970. In 1972, she won a Gulbenkian Dance Award to work with the Ballet Rambert. Nicola LeFanu has written music for orchestra, chamber groups, many works for voice and several operas. Her opera catalogue includes the chamber opera Dawnpath (1977), a radio opera - The Story of Mary O'Neill (1986), a children's opera - The Green Children (1990), Blood Wedding (1992), and The Wildman (1995). Nicola LeFanu has also been active in many aspects of the musical profession, and has served on numerous public boards and panels including the Arts Council for whom she has chaired a number of committees.
Thursday, July 6, at 6.30pm
John Wallace (DMus)
Principal of the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama
Acclaimed internationally as a virtuoso trumpet player, John Wallace's performances as a soloist with leading orchestras and conductors and at major festivals and venues throughout the world have earned him wide respect from audiences, promoters and critics alike, and have established him as a musician of enormous distinction. As concerto soloist he has appeared with conductors such as Neeme Jarvi, Riccardo Muti, and Sir Simon Rattle. In addition to being invited to perform with major orchestras in the UK and abroad, he regularly gives recitals and master classes all over the world. In 1986 he founded The Wallace Collection, an ensemble devoted to the development of brass music and education, which became one of the world's pioneering brass groups and was renowned for its pioneering educative work. In 1995, he was awarded the OBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours in recognition of his service to music.
Friday, July 7, at 11.00am
Michael Tunstall (DSc)
Honorary Research Fellow, Department of Environmental & Occupational Medicine, University of Aberdeen
Dr Michael Tunstall was formerly a Clinical Senior Lecturer and, for three decades until his ‘retiral’ in 1992, was a consultant anaesthetist with Aberdeen Hospitals. Dr Tunstall is perhaps best known as the originator of Entonox, a high pressure gaseous mixture of nitrous oxide and oxygen, used worldwide in maternity units to relieve the pains of labour, in ambulances and accident and emergency departments to relieve the pain associated with acute trauma and generally as a short term analgesic. Entonox is one of many innovations, which Dr Tunstall developed and which continue to have a major impact on clinical practice throughout the world. This gas mixture is used throughout the world in maternity units to relieve the pains of labour, in ambulances and accident and emergency departments to relieve pain associated with acute trauma and generally as a short term analgesic. Although responsible for this invention Dr Tunstall has not profited financially from this highly significant invention. Over his career he has continued to develop this technology and this work has led to the successful development of Isonox gas with an important role in supplying analgesia for obstetrics and other areas of surgical practice.
Michael Tunstall’s work has undoubtedly been responsible for saving many lives. It has also brought international recognition for the University of Aberdeen and Aberdeen Hospitals as a centre of excellence in all the areas in which he practiced. Dr Tunstall's contributions to his various fields have been enormous. His work has been entirely original including the development of techniques and drugs that were to revolutionise the practice of anaesthesia, obstetrics and neonatology the world over.
Friday, July 7, at 11.00am
Angus Grossart (LLD)
Chairman and Managing Director of Noble Grossart Limited
Sir Angus Grossart is Chairman and Managing Director of Noble Grossart Limited, the merchant bank, which he jointly founded in 1969. In this capacity he has served as financial and strategic adviser to many public and private companies and other bodies. In addition to his business interests he has held appointments with many public, cultural and charitable bodies. He also played a key part in securing the Playfair extension of the University Library. Sir Angus recently became Chairman of the Board of Trustees of National Museums of Scotland and is a former Chairman of the Trustees of the National Galleries of Scotland. He has also been a Trustee and Vice Chairman of the National Heritage Memorial Fund and Chairman of the Heritage Lottery Fund in Scotland. In addition, he is Chairman of the Fine Art Society, London and of the Scottish auction house Lyon & Turnbull.