University recognises outstanding achievements with its honorary degrees 2006
The University of Southampton is honouring achievements in education, health, the arts, science and engineering with its honorary degree awards 2006. Recipients include actor, and Southampton graduate, John Nettles, known to TV viewers around the world as DCI Barnaby in 'Midsomer Murders', and Sergeant Jim Bergerac in the long-running series 'Bergerac'.
The awards will be made during the University's Graduation ceremonies, which take place from Thursday 20 July to Thursday 27 July at its Highfield Campus. Ceremonies will take place alternately in the Turner Sims Concert Hall and the Nuffield Theatre.
This year's Graduation also features the installation of the University's new Chancellor, Sir John Parker, who takes over from Lord Selborne. The ceremony to install Sir John as Chancellor will take place on Thursday 27 July. Sir John also receives an honorary degree on Tuesday 25 July.
Those receiving honorary degrees are (in alphabetical order):
Emeritus Professor Hugh Barr
(Receives the honorary degree of Doctor of Science in the Social Sciences)
Hugh Barr is Emeritus Professor in Interprofessional Education at the University of Westminster. Professor Barr has played a seminal role in promoting interprofessional education in health and social care in the UK.
Parvin Damani
(Receives the honorary degree of Doctor of the University)
A public health specialist and race equality adviser for the NHS, Parvin Damani received an MBE in 2001 for services to health care. A Southampton City Councillor since 1996, she was the City's mayor in 2003.
Emeritus Professor Malcolm Green
(Receives the honorary degree of Doctor of Science)
Professor Malcolm Green, who retired as Professor of Inorganic Chemistry at Oxford in 2003, has made an outstanding contribution to research in organometallic and materials chemistry and in teaching and promoting chemistry nationally and internationally.
Ben Helfgott
(Receives the honorary degree of Doctor of the University)
Ben Helfgott is one of only two known survivors of Nazi concentration camps to compete in the Olympic Games. The only member of his family to survive the Holocaust, he helped form the 45 Aid Society for Holocaust survivors in the UK, and has worked to provide education about and appropriate remembrance of the Holocaust. A Southampton alumnus, he was awarded the MBE in 2000 for services to the community.
Professor Dame Olwen Hufton
(Receives the honorary degree of Doctor of Letters)
Professor Dame Olwen Hufton is emeritus fellow of Merton College, Oxford, and former Leverhulme Research Professor of History at Merton College. One of the foremost historians of early modern Europe, Dame Olwen is a pioneer of social history and women's history. Her book 'The Prospect Before Her: A History of Women in Western Europe, 1500-1800' is a groundbreaking study of the experience of early modern woman.
Sue Lopez
(Receives the honorary degree of Doctor of the University)
Sue Lopez, MBE, has been one of the leading figures in UK women's football for more than three decades. A founder member and player for the most successful women's FA Cup team, Southampton WFC, Sue Lopez was voted into the National Football Museum Hall of Fame in 2004.
Dame Yvonne Moores
(Receives the honorary degree of Doctor of the University)
Dame Yvonne Moores has contributed at the very highest level to the nursing profession and the NHS and to the development of governance in the higher education sector. She was awarded the DBE in 1999 in recognition of her services to nursing, culminating in the post of Chief Nursing Officer. Dame Yvonne has been Pro-Chancellor and Chair of Council at the University of Southampton from 2000 to 2006.
Bernard Naylor
(Receives the honorary degree of Doctor of Letters)
University Librarian at Southampton from 1977 to 2000 and President of the Library Association in 2001, Bernard Naylor has made an outstanding contribution to the professional development of librarianship in the UK over the past forty years.
John Nettles
(Receives the honorary degree of Doctor of the University)
Southampton alumnus John Nettles, who made his name as a classical actor with the RSC, is best known to TV audiences for his roles as DCI Barnaby in 'Midsomer Murders', and Sergeant Jim Bergerac in the long-running series 'Bergerac'. It was during his time as a student at Southampton that he was first spotted by a theatrical agent.
Sir John Parker
(Receives the honorary degree of Doctor of Science)
Sir John Parker has been appointed to succeed Lord Selborne as Chancellor of the University and will be invested as Chancellor at this year's Graduation. Chairman of the Board of National Grid plc and Chairman of P&O, Sir John's distinguished career has encompassed the engineering, shipbuilding and defence industries. He received his knighthood in 2001 for services to the defence and shipbuilding industries.
Trevor Phillips
(Receives the honorary degree of Doctor of the University)
Trevor Phillips has been Chair of the Commission for Racial Equality since 2003. After studying chemistry at Imperial College, London, he entered broadcasting, becoming Head of Current Affairs at LWT in 1992. From 1987-2000, he was alternately the editor or the presenter of The London Programme. Elected as a member of the Greater London Authority in 2000, he became chair of the Assembly in the same year.
Professor Eric J Thomas
(Receives the honorary degree of Doctor of Science)
Professor Eric Thomas has made a major contribution to clinical academic medicine and higher education. Currently Vice-Chancellor of the University of Bristol, he was previously Head of the University of Southampton's School of Medicine (1995-1998) and Dean of the Faculty of Medicine, Health and Biological Sciences (1998-2000).
Professor Sir David J Wallace
(Receives the honorary degree of Doctor of Science)
Vice-Chancellor of Loughborough University from 1994 to 2006, this October Professor Sir David Wallace takes up his new appointment as Director of the Isaac Newton Institute for Mathematical Sciences and Master of Churchill College, Cambridge. One of the founding lecturers in theoretical physics at the University of Southampton from 1972, David Wallace became Reader at Southampton in 1978. He was knighted in 2004 for services to UK science, technology and engineering.