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University of Leicester honours

Degrees of distinction to be conferred on distinguished achievers - ceremonies from July 13-July 16, 2010

Issued on 07 July 2010

JPEG images of honorands available via pressoffice@le.ac.uk

The University of Leicester is to confer honorary degrees on ten distinguished individuals of local, national and international standing at degree ceremonies to be held at the De Montfort Hall, Leicester between Tuesday 13th and Friday 16th July 2010.

The Leicester Honorands are drawn from the worlds of business and industry, local and national politics, art, academia, and the media, and they include one of the nation’s favourite broadcasters, Sir Terry Wogan.

Those to be honoured are:

Tuesday 13th July, 3pm

Pall-Ex CEO and entrepreneur Hilary Devey, who founded the UK’s number one network for the distribution of palletised freight in 1996 (Doctor of Laws);

Wednesday 14th July, 11am

Former Conservative Whip in the House of Lords, Conservative spokesperson on the environment and rural affairs and member of the University of Leicester Court, Baroness Byford of Rothley (Doctor of Laws);

Wednesday 14th July, 11am

Leicester-born, internationally acclaimed sculptor Ken Ford, who won the prestigious Prix de Rome in 1955 (Doctor of Letters);

Wednesday 14th July, 3pm

Peter Williams, CBE who has recently retired from the office of Chief Executive of the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education and was formerly a member of the administration of the University of Leicester (Doctor of Laws);

Thursday 15th July, 11am

Lord Bach of Lutterworth, former Mayor of Lutterworth and a Councillor with Leicester City, Lutterworth and Harborough Councils, former Labour Whip in the House of Lords and a Minister in the previous Labour Government in a number of departments (Doctor of Laws);

Thursday 15th July, 11am

John Sinnott, Chief Executive of Leicestershire County Council and the longest-serving County Council Chief Executive (Doctor of Laws);

Thursday 15th July, 3pm

Professor John Holloway, OBE, has served the University in a range of capacities including having been a former Pro-Vice-Chancellor and Senior Pro-Vice-Chancellor, a former Dean and Head of the Department of Chemistry (Doctor of Laws).

Thursday 15th July, 3pm

Jonathan Castleman, Group Managing Director of Norman and Underwood Ltd, the Leicestershire-based roofing and leadwork business founded in 1825 (Doctor of Science);

Friday 16th July, 11am

Leicester-born journalist and education columnist, currently writing for the New Statesman and the Guardian, Peter Wilby (Doctor of Letters);

Friday 16th July, 3pm

Sir Terry Wogan, KBE, one of the UK’s most popular radio and television presenters (Doctor of Laws).

Vice-Chancellor of the University of Leicester, Professor Sir Robert Burgess said: “We are delighted to honour such a distinguished group of people, some of whom have worked closely with the University while others have brought distinction to the region and in their various fields. All of them are an inspiration to our students.”

ends

Notes to Editors: Fuller biographies and press comments are available by clicking here .

Further details are available from the Press Office, University of Leicester: pressoffice@le.ac.uk; 0116 252 3335