September 2002
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Leading Figures Honoured

Leading figures from the worlds of sport, technology and science, charity, entertainment, politics and social justice, received Honorary Doctorates from the University in July.

The University honoured Trevor Foster MBE, Brian Noble, Brian Critchley, Emeritus Professor Rosemary Cramp, Rachael Heyhoe-Flint MBE, Sir Chris Bonington, Elizabeth France and Mohammed Amran, alongside more than 1,900 graduates of the University.

Left to right: Brian Noble and Trevor Foster

International sporting heroes Trevor Foster MBE and Brian Noble were the first to be awarded their degrees. Trevor received a Doctorate in recognition of his contributions over a continuous period of 60 years as a player and official with Bradford Northern and Bradford Bulls Rugby League Club. In addition, for his voluntary work with young people and his active support for charities in the City of Bradford.

Before receiving his award, Trevor said: "Bradford is one of the greatest cities in the world and this honour is one of the greatest things to have happened to me. Since 1938, I have received nothing but great warmth and kindness from the people of Bradford both on and off the field. Bradford is the tops and I will never forget the kindness for me and my family.

"Having been an Educational Welfare Officer for many years, I have always had a great regard for educational matters in this city. It was very much at the forefront of my life and to be picked out for this great award is something that I will relish for the rest of my life. It is a marvellous occasion."

Joining his predecessor in the same ceremony, Brian was awarded a Doctorate for his achievements as a rugby league player both at national level and, over a period of 15 years, with Bradford Northern Rugby League Club. Also in recognition of his contributions to the Bradford Bulls Rugby League Club as First Team Coach.

Brian told News and Views: "I am delighted. It is a privilege and an honour to receive this. It is a recognition of how much the University and Bradford Bulls mean to this city. They are both hubs of the Community."

One of the world's most distinguished mountaineers, Sir Chris Bonington (pictured above right), was awarded a Doctorate of the University in recognition of his achievements as a mountaineer and a writer. He has led and been on 19 Himalayan expeditions, including four to Everest, which he climbed in 1985 at the age of fifty, and has made many first ascents in the Alps and greater ranges of the world, including Annapurna II in 1960, and Nuptse in 1961.

Sir Chris said: "I am absolutely delighted to receive this award and it is wonderful to be here for two reasons. Firstly, I have connections to Bradford through my friend Ian Clough, who came from Baildon, and who died during an expedition. He was a very special guy. Bradford was also the place I did my very first lecture, which was in St George's Hall."

Archaeologist Professor Rosemary Cramp (pictured left) received a Doctorate in recognition of her contributions in the field of archaeology and, in particular, for her work in championing the cause of science in archaeology.

Before receiving her award, she told News & Views: "I feel very honoured to receive this Degree, particularly as I was involved with the University's Department of Archaeological Sciences at the very beginning - I was its first external examiner and Bradford is a University I very much admire. It is very interesting to see how things are developing and today has given me an opportunity to meet the people I knew from my time here."

The youngest ever Commissioner for Racial Equality, Mohammed Amran, was awarded a Doctorate for his work with disadvantaged young people in the Bradford area, his community work and contributions in the field of race relations. Also in recognition of his appointment in 1998 as the youngest ever Commissioner for Racial Equality.

Coming from an inner city area of Bradford, Mohammed left school with no formal qualifications. During the Bradford disturbances of 1995 he was on the front line of conflict resolution where he encouraged young people having open and honest dialogue with the West Yorkshire Police Service.

Mohammed (pictured right) said: "I am honoured and delighted to have received this Doctorate. It gives me great delight to see that the University does recognise what I am doing in the community and encourages me to do more for Bradford. I am Bradford born and bred and this is recognition for the community. I am delighted to be associated with the University - we have a really nice University and we need to promote it and I will continue to support and promote the University outside Bradford."

Popular women's cricketer Rachael Heyhoe-Flint MBE (pictured left with one of the University's cricketing 'stars' School of Management students Kathryn Leng) was awarded a Doctorate for her contributions to women's cricket in general and for her achievements as Captain of the England Women's Cricket Team 1966-77. After receiving her degree she met one of the University's cricketing 'stars', School of Management student Kathryn Leng, who has also played at international level.

Rachael said: "It was a great honour to receive my degree. It felt a little like 'This is Your Life', but I feel there is a great more still to do. I will certainly continue to help develop and support the management of sport in the future."

Referring to the Bradford-Leeds Universities Cricketing Centre of Excellence, which is based at the University of Bradford and encourages community cricket as well as nurture new talent, Rachael said: "There are great strides being made in cricket nationally but there is such a lack of sport in schools generally so to have facilities such as the Cricketing Centre of Excellence means a great deal for the future development of the sport. I certainly wish there had been such a Centre around when I started to play cricket."

Information Commissioner Elizabeth France (pictured right) was awarded a Doctorate in recognition of her contributions in the field of data protection and, in particular, for her achievements since 1994 as Data Protection Registrar and, more recently, as Information Commissioner. Elizabeth became Data Protection Registrar against a backdrop of an explosive growth in computer usage, the Internet and e-commerce, and under her regime privacy and data protection have moved to a high place on the political agenda.

Elizabeth said: "It is a privilege and an honour to be awarded a degree at this University. It is a University that I have known about for many years as my brother was a graduate here. I was also here to launch the Internet, Law and Society degree, which has developed my interest in the University. The course epitomises what this University does. It does not look at things in multiple boxes, but takes different disciplines and pulls them together, taking a modern approach to the society in which we live. The way this degree is developing has impressed me."

Digital video expert Brian Critchley (pictured left) was awarded a Doctorate in recognition of his work in display technology and, in particular, for his contributions to the creation of the high-brightness video projector. Under Brian's technical leadership, Rank Brimar set about creating the projector that would one day replace film projectors and 35mm slide projectors.

Brian graduated from the University in 1974. Coincidentally, Bradford's Computing lecturer, Dr Peter Comerford (pictured below), played the organ at the degree ceremony in which Brian received his first degree and also played when he returned to receive his Honorary Degree. During the visit, Brian was presented with a copy of his first degree Award Ceremony booklet as a souvenir.

Brian, who attended the ceremony with his family, including his wife Liz, daughter Hannah and son James, said: "I feel tremendously honoured to have received this award from the University. It was totally unexpected. I graduated here in 1974 in Applied Physics and I am still living in Scholes, in Cleckheaton. I think this is recognition not just for me but for everybody in my business. Without these people both myself and the company would not have been successful."

Vice-Chancellor Professor Chris Taylor paid tribute to the Honorary Graduates when he said: "We were pleased to be able to recognise the achievements of such talented and distinguished individuals and we were delighted that they were able to join us in celebrating the achievements of our many graduates."

Meanwhile, the University's Emeritus Professor, Terry Baker (pictured below), has been awarded an honorary degree by the University of Ulster in recognition of his pioneering contributions in biomedical research and education. Professor Baker was instrumental in setting up the BSc degree course in Biomedical Sciences in 1980 at the University of Bradford. The course was the first such degree course in the UK. Since then, similar courses have been developed in many other universities nationally and abroad.

After academic appointments in Birmingham and Edinburgh, he came to Bradford in 1980 as Professor of Medical Sciences and later Biomedical Sciences, a post he held till his retiral in 2001.

Professor Michael Gardner said: "Terry has always been a tireless and enthusiastic worker for the development of Biomedical Sciences within universities, and many cohorts of students have been stimulated by his charismatic and enthusiastic lectures on genetics and reproductive biology. The award of such a degree is a very definite honour, and it reflects very positively on the excellence within the University of Bradford in the particular area of Biomedical Sciences as well as on Professor Baker's huge personal contributions."

Staff are invited to nominate people for the award of Honorary Degrees of the University. Anyone interested in putting a name forward for consideration by the Honorary Degrees Committee should contact Nick Buck in Student Registry on 01274 (23)3038 or email N.J.Buck@bradford.ac.uk. Nick will be able to advise with criteria for the awards and the procedures involved in processing proposals. Closing date for receipt for nominations is Friday, September 20.

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