Honorary Graduates

Tim O’Reilly is the founder, CEO, and Chairman of O’Reilly Media, the company that has been providing the picks and shovels of learning to the Silicon Valley gold rush for the past thirty-five years. The company delivers online learning, publishes books, and runs conferences about cutting-edge technology, and has a history of convening conversations that reshape the computer industry. If you’ve heard the term “open source software”, “web 2.0”, “the Maker movement”, “government as a platform” or “the WTF economy”, he’s had a hand in framing each of those big ideas.

Tim is also a partner at early-stage venture firm O’Reilly AlphaTech Ventures (OATV), and on the boards of Code for America, PeerJ, Civis Analytics, and PopVox. He is the author of many technical books published by O’Reilly Media, and most recently WTF? What’s the Future and Why It’s Up to Us (Harper Business, 2017). He is working on a new book about why we need to rethink antitrust in the era of internet-scale platforms.

Listen to Tim's speech from the Graduation Ceremony. 

Dame Mary Archer DBE is Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Science Museum Group. She read chemistry at Oxford and has taught the subject at the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge and at Imperial College London. Her research interests lay in direct (non-thermal) methods of solar energy conversion to power and fuels, and she was the founder secretary of the UK Solar Energy Society and founder Chair of the UK’s National Energy Foundation. She has had a long association with the NHS, sitting on the board of Cambridge University Hospitals from 1993 and chairing it from 2002 to 2012. She chaired the External Advisory Board of Imperial College Health Partners, 2013–2017. In 2012, she was appointed DBE for services to the NHS.

Among other commitments, Dame Mary is Chair of the External Advisory Board of the Centre for Personalised Medicine, Oxford, a non-executive director of the clean energy group, Hydrodec Group plc, and a board member of the Library of Alexandria.

A keen singer and supporter of choral music, Dame Mary has sung in a number of choirs, including the Oxford Bach Choir, the BBC Choral Society and the Clerkes of Oxenford. She currently chairs Cambridge Early Music and is a non-executive director of the Britten Sinfonia, Patron of Cambridge Summer Music, President of the Guild of Church Musicians and Vice-President of the Friends of Newport Cathedral Choir.

Listen to Mary's speech from the Graduation Ceremony.

Graham Hart is the Chairman of Graham Hart (ProcessTechnology) Ltd, a company he founded over forty-five years ago. He graduated in Chemical Engineering from the University of Bradford in 1969 and his first job after graduating was as a process engineer with BTI Chemicals. It was during his time there that he decided to make the leap of faith into starting his own company, something he had always dreamed of.

As the company grew, his focus moved towards process design and more specifically heat transfer. A passion for problem solving meant that Graham gained a reputation for getting the oddball projects and he has accumulated an extensive catalogue of weird and wonderfully shaped heat exchangers.

The company has now all but outgrown its third property and is embarking on its next phase of expansion. While many of its clients have been with the company for decades, the continually changing landscape of industry has found the company now operating in fields and at levels never imagined in those early years.

Listen to Graham's speech from the Graduation Ceremony.

Wendy Mitchell was diagnosed with youngonset dementia on the 31st July 2014 at the age of 58 years young. She might not have much of a short term memory but that’s one date she’ll never forget.

She retired early from the NHS, having worked as a non-clinical team leader for 20 years. Post diagnosis, shocked by the lack of awareness, both in the community and clinical world, she now spends all her time travelling around the country raising awareness and encouraging others to embrace her passion for research.

Wendy is the proud author of the Sunday Times bestseller, Somebody I Used to Know. She has two daughters and lives happily in Yorkshire. 

Listen to Wendy's speech from the Graduation Ceremony. 

Dr. Anita Patil-Deshmukh brings a wide variety of talents and expertise to PUKAR. A trained Neonatologist by profession, Anita received her Master’s in Public Health from Harvard University and worked as a Faculty Neonatologist at a teaching institution in Chicago for 20 years.

During her tenure, she was the Director of the Ambulatory Pediatric Residency programme and Director of Continuous Medical Education for the Department of Pediatrics. She played a major leadership role within the India Development Service (IDS), a Chicago based pioneering organisation that supported multiple, small-scale Integrated Rural Development Projects (IRDP) across India. During her voluntary tenure at IDS, Anita visited 44 projects across 12 states to evaluate and learn from.

She helped organised many important seminars in Chicago on developmental issues and built links between several philanthropic initiatives and leaders in India and the United States. Anita relocated to India in 2005 to contribute to the developmental sector and joined PUKAR as Executive Director.

Listen to Anita's speech from the Graduation Ceremony.

Manoj is a Ugandan of Indian origin and became a British citizen after arriving in the UK as a refugee during the infamous Idi Amin crisis. As a Pharmacist, he began his career as a Laboratory Technician in a small manufacturing chemist and joined Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI Pharmaceuticals) in 1979. He retired after 27 years as Business Development Manager for AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals.

He led causes to alleviate the inequality and disenfranchisement of black and ethnic minorities in health and social care services, and for the overall cohesion and participation of all community sectors in the public dialogue.

As a founder sponsored governor and currently Chair of Governors of the Bradford Academy school, he is dedicated to improving the life opportunities for all children. He is passionate about the proliferation of equality in opportunity and outcome in education and employment, access to healthcare and support services for the elderly and vulnerable, and to increase overall community participation in the governance and provision of public services.

He is a Rotarian with 51 years “Service Above Self” and elected District Governor for Rotary International for Yorkshire & North Lincolnshire.

Listen to Manoj's speech from the Graduation Ceremony.

Lady Hale is the United Kingdom’s most senior judge. She became the first, and sadly the only, woman ‘Lord of Appeal in Ordinary’ in 2004, after a varied career as an academic lawyer, law reformer and judge. Born in Leeds, she was educated at Richmond High School for Girls and
Girton College, Cambridge. She was called to the Bar by Gray’s Inn in 1969. She taught Law at the University of Manchester for 18 years, specialising in Family and Social Welfare Law. She was the joint founding editor of the Journal of Social Welfare and Family Law and author and co-author of a number of books, including The Family, Law and Society: Cases and Materials and Mental Health Law.

In 1984 she became the first woman to serve on the Law Commission. There she led the work of the Family Law team, resulting (among others) in the Children Act 1989 and the Mental Capacity Act 2005. She was promoted to the Court of Appeal of England and Wales in 1999 and in
2004 to the House of Lords.

In 2009, the ‘Law Lords’ became the Justices of the newly created Supreme Court of the United Kingdom. Lady Hale was the first woman Justice and became its Deputy President in 2013 and its President in 2017.

She was a Trustee of the Nuffield Foundation from 1987 to 2002, Chancellor of the University of Bristol from 2004 to 2016 and Treasurer of Gray’s Inn in 2017. She helped establish the United Kingdom Association of Women Judges in 2004 and from 2010 to 2012 served as President of the International Association of Women Judges.

Listen to Lady Hale's speech from the Graduation Ceremony.

Dr Elworthy is an three-time Nobel Peace Prize nominee for her work with the Oxford Research Group to develop effective dialogue between nuclear weapons policy-makers worldwide and their critics. Dr Elworthy founded Peace Direct in 2002 to fund, promote and learn from local
peace-builders in conflict areas: Peace Direct was voted ‘Best New Charity’ in 2005.

Priscilla was awarded the Niwano Peace Prize in 2003 and was adviser to Peter Gabriel, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, and Sir Richard Branson in setting up ‘The Elders’. She co-founded Rising Women Rising World in 2013, and FemmeQ in 2016 to establish the qualities of feminine intelligence for women and men as essential skills in building a safer world.

Her latest book The Business Plan for Peace: Building a World Without War (2017) and her book Pioneering the Possible: awakened leadership for a world that works (North Atlantic Books, 2014) both received wide critical acclaim.

Priscilla is an Ambassador for Peace Direct, a Councillor of the World Future Council and patron of Oxford Research Group; adviser to the Syria Campaign and the Institute for Economics and Peace. She advises the leadership of various international corporations, as well as students and young social entrepreneurs.

Listen to Priscilla's speech from the Graduation Ceremony. 

Dr Hassib Sahyoun is a member of our Bradford alumni community, having received both his MSc in 1976 and PhD in 1979 from the University.

An entrepreneur, Dr Sahyoun’s vision has always been to transform the one-man-show culture in Laboratory Medical Diagnostic Services in Jordan, to a Group Practice culture to best serve physicians and their patients, as well as ensuring long term sustainability. In 1993 Dr Sahyoun along with four doctor colleagues co-founded MedLabs Consultancy Group, forming the first private “Group Practice” in Laboratory Medicine in the Region.

MedLabs is now the fastest growing network of private medical diagnostic laboratories in the Middle East with 50 branches across three countries and a regional Reference Laboratory in Jordan that has achieved the highest international quality accreditations and awards. By introducing Group Practice, Dr Sahyoun made a difference in Laboratory Medicine in Jordan and the Region.

As Chairman and CEO, Dr Sahyoun has overseen the company’s provision of free-of-charge testing to underprivileged communities, as well as launching many national health awareness campaigns.

He is currently head of the Medical Laboratory Specialists Syndicate in Jordan as well as a member of several committees which oversee national standards of quality for the Jordanian Ministry of Health.

Jonathan Phillips, OBE, is a qualified social worker. For many years he worked in social services – including in Bradford – carrying out a number of frontline, training and management roles.

After a stint in the voluntary sector, as a Director with National Deaf Children’s Society, Jonathan worked for the social services inspectorate. He then moved to the Commission for Social Care Inspection as a National Director. His final job before retirement was director of Adult Social Services at Calderdale.

Since retiring 7 years ago he has chaired the Safeguarding Adults Boards for both Bradford Council and North Yorkshire, as well as providing other consultancy services. Jonathan is very interested in disability rights and is a strong believer in people’s rights to choose their own lifestyle and social workers’ responsibility to support them.

Sir Gary Verity DL is a British businessman and Chief Executive of Welcome to Yorkshire.

He is most well-known for spearheading the successful campaigns for the Grand Départ of the 2014 Tour de France to be held in Yorkshire and the UCI Road World Championships which will come to Yorkshire in 2019 and will see Bradford host the start of the Women’s Elite Road Race.

Sir Gary created the Tour de Yorkshire, now the best attended sporting event in the UK, credited with bringing a £252million boost to Yorkshire’s economy over the last four years.

As well as a Knighthood, Sir Gary was awarded a top honour by the French Government, a chevalier medal in the Ordre National du Mérite for his work with the Tour de France. This year he was also appointed Deputy Lieutenant of West Yorkshire.

Yorkshire woman Sandy Needham is the Chief Executive of the West and North Yorkshire Chamber, the leading business organisation for the Bradford, Leeds, York and North Yorkshire. Previously she was Chief Executive of the Bradford Chamber.

A champion for business Sandy led a regeneration project to provide offices and industrial units on easy terms for start-up and growing businesses.  Another innovation has been the development of the Raising the Bar initiative to encourage companies to support the wider community and measure their social impact.  Sandy has also been heavily involved with the Business Enterprise Fund. The fund lends money to enterprises that cannot obtain bank finance and has helped some great business ideas become a reality.

Sandy has a strong affinity with the local area. This is reflected in her roles as a member of the Bradford Economic Partnership, non-executive director of Bradford City of Film and interim director of the Bradford Business Improvement District (BID). The Bid plans to raise £2.5million, over the next five years, to spend on projects to boost the city centre.

Professor Nicholas Barber is Emeritus Professor of Pharmacy at University College London School of Pharmacy.

A Bradford alumni, having studied Pharmacy between 1972-1975, Nick is a former Vice-President of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society GB and has been awarded the Gold Medal of the Guild of Healthcare Pharmacists and the Royal Pharmaceutical Society’s Lifetime Achievement Award. 

As well as spending several years as a hospital pharmacist, Nick has been involved in research around the prescribing and use of medicines. The NHS New Medicines Service – where pharmacists support patients with new medicines to use them safely and to best effect – was derived from Nick’s research.

His work, which is estimated to have saved the NHS £0.5bn, has led to national policy changes in care homes, community pharmacy and in hospitals.

Nadira Mirza is a former University of Bradford Dean and Director. 

Her career has been dedicated to improving the life chances of disadvantaged young people, especially women, which stems from her time as a youth worker in 1970s' London.

As a committed believer in the transformative nature of education, Nadira is a particularly keen proponent of lifelong learning. She has been instrumental in shaping national and international developments in the fields of widening participation and access to higher education. Under her leadership, Bradford became the number one English university for widening participation.

An acknowledged authority in her field, Nadira’s experience and expertise have led her to sit on a number of government boards and advise a range of commissions.

As Honorary Visiting Professor of International Security between 1996 and 2017, Graham Pearson is no stranger to the University of Bradford. Having studied at Woodhouse Grove School in Apperley Bridge, his links to the region stretch even further back than that.

Graham obtained a First Class Degree in Chemistry from St Andrew’s University before starting his career by joining the Scientific Civil Service. In 1984 he was appointed Director General and Chief Executive of Porton Down, the UK’s Chemical and Biological Defence Establishment, a role he held for eleven years.

Whilst Honorary Professor at Bradford, Graham facilitated the involvement of the University of Bradford Peace Studies Department in the Review Conferences of the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention in Geneva.

Graham is a renowned and respected author, with his textbook on the search For Iraq's weapons of mass destruction described as the definitive source of information on this topic.

Professor Sir Mark Welland is professor of nanotechnology and head of the Nanoscience Centre at University of Cambridge.

His career has been long and distinguished, encompassing roles at IBM, the Science and Technology Research Centre at the American University in Cairo, Egypt and as Chief Scientific Adviser to the UK’s Ministry of Defence.

2011, the year he was bestowed a Knighthood in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list, proved to be a stellar year for Mark. He received the highest medal awarded by the National Nuclear Security Administration - Gold Medal for Distinguished Service - and was also awarded the US Secretary of Defense’s Award for Exceptional Public Service; the highest award presented by the Department to a representative of another government.

As well as his academic work, a long-term commitment to engaging with schools led to Sir Mark designing a short DVD film which went on to win the 2010 Science Short Film of the Year at Scinema - the largest science film festival in the southern hemisphere.

Richard Noble is a Scottish entrepreneur who was holder of the land speed record between 1983 and 1997.

He was also the project director of ThrustSSC, the first land vehicle to officially break the sound barrier, which holds the current land speed record set in 1997. Richard is planning another land speed record attempt to take place in 2019.

A qualified pilot, Richard’s life has revolved around technology, engineering and speed. He holds the record for the fastest ever triple consecutive Atlantic crossing from London to New York and back to London in Concorde.

Richard was awarded an OBE in 1983.

Dr Gullapalli Rao, academic and ophthalmologist, is renowned for the creation of sustainable and high quality eye care which is transforming vision health across India.

Described as an entrepreneur of solutions for eye health, he founded the L V Prasad Eye Institute in Hyderabad 25 years ago, and is now a key player in Vision 2020: The Right to Sight, a global initiative aiming to eliminate avoidable blindness by 2020.

Previously the President and CEO of the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness, Dr Rao’s work as an internationally recognised ambassador for eye health saw him inducted into the Ophthalmology Hall Of Fame in 2017.

With over 300 published academic papers to his name, Dr Rao is a visiting professor in universities across the world and a Fellow of the Indian National Academy of Medical Sciences.

Dr Ruth McKernan has been Chief Executive of Innovate UK – the UK’s innovation agency – since 2015.

A graduate of King’s College London, Ruth is a published author and winner of the Science Writers’ Award.

She has over twenty five years of research and experience in the pharmaceutical industry. Her career includes prestigious roles as Head of Neuroscience at Merck and Senior Vice President at Pfizer.

Ruth has been a champion for diversity within innovation, promoting the ‘Women in Innovation’ campaign during her time at Innovate.

She was awarded a CBE in 2013 for services to business, innovation and skills.