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University Staff News Awards Ceremonies Hundreds of students from the Faculty of Sport, Health and Social Care graduated on Friday 13 November at Gloucester Cathedral, watched by their proud parents and friends. Honorary awards were given to Cheltenham-born international opera singer Dame Felicity Lott, Greg Smith, Principal of Gloucestershire College, and writer Jilly Cooper who lives in Gloucestershire. On Thursday 19 November at The Centaur, Cheltenham Racecourse, Monty Don, Beryl Gleich, Dr Haruhisa Handa, Professor Sir Ghillean Prance and Michael Webber will receive their awards. Friday 20 November will see the conferment of Lucy Abel-Smith, David Everitt-Matthias, Levi Roots and Tony Wadsworth also at The Centaur. The University annually confers Honorary Awards on individuals who have made a sustained or outstanding contribution locally, nationally or internationally. These Awards are given to recognise those who have achieved distinction in a particular field, or given distinguished service to Gloucestershire, the Church or the University. Full list of Honorary Awards (click link to go straight to bio): Jilly Cooper
Jilly’s writing career began in 1956 as a cub reporter at the Middlesex Independent, before different jobs led her to work in book publishing. In 1968 she met the editor of The Sunday Times magazine who invited her to write a piece for him on the difficulties of being a young working wife and resulted in her becoming a columnist at The Sunday Times for thirteen and a half years. She wrote her first book in 1969, and since then she has written or compiled 39 other books, as well as appearing on radio and television. Jilly’s first big novel, Riders, was published in 1985 and went straight to number 1 in the best sellers lists. Seven more novels followed over the next 22 years, all celebrating the beauty of the Gloucestershire countryside. In 1998 Jilly received a Lifetime Achievement Award at the British Book Awards and in 2004 was awarded an OBE. A resident in Gloucestershire since 1982, Jilly is a passionate supporter of the Cheltenham Literature Festival. An Honorary Doctorate of Music is to be awarded to Dame Felicity Lott in recognition of her outstanding contribution, both nationally and internationally to opera. Born in Cheltenham, Felicity was educated at Pate’s Grammar School and went on to read French and Latin at the Royal Holloway College, University of London, before winning a scholarship to study singing at the Royal Academy of Music. Felicity made her debut at the English National Opera in 1975 and has sung at the Royal Opera House, Glyndebourne Festival, Bavarian State Opera, Metropolitan Opera New York and major opera houses across the globe, singing with the world’s major orchestras and conductors. Felicity was made a DBE in 1996 and has been elected to the French Legion of Honour. She is the current vice-president of British Youth Opera and has been president of the Cheltenham Choral Society since 1993.
Greg became Principal of Henley College, Coventry in 1993 and moved to his current post of Principal of Gloucestershire College in 1997. Both colleges were in extreme financial difficulty when Greg became Principal. Under his leadership, both were turned into thriving and successful colleges. In 2004, Greg was appointed Chair of the Gloucester Heritage Urban Regeneration Company which is charged with delivering £1bn of regeneration over 10 years. The work of the GHURC is well on budget with £400m already invested and £600m in the pipeline. Greg led the complete rebuild of the Cheltenham campus (£20m) in 2002 and the Gloucester campus (£35m) in 2007; both sited in areas of deprivation and at the forefront of economic and social regeneration in those areas. In partnership with Cleeve, Tewkesbury and Chipping Campden schools, Greg led the building of the new Launchpad Centre (£6m) in Tewkesbury. Born in 1955, Monty Don received no formal training as a gardener but his obsession with gardening led him to a career writing and presenting on his passion. Monty first began television presenting on the gardening slot of This Morning before going on to present several Channel 4 series such as Don Roaming and Lost Gardens. He became the main presenter of Gardeners’ W orld in 2003, before stepping down in 2008 due to ill health. Monty is the President of the Soil Association, a charity that promotes sustainable food and farming. A keen advocate of organic gardening, the practice of organic techniques features in the majority of his published work. The organic approach is most prominent in his 2003 book The Complete Gardener. Monty is the recipient of an Honorary Doctorate of Philosophy in recognition of his outstanding contribution to horticulture, both as a presenter and writer.
For the last 35 years she has worked in various Gloucestershire schools and pre-school settings, becoming Head of Christchurch Chalford Primary in 1996 and then Dinglewell Infants in 2000. A past chair of the Gloucestershire Infant Heads’ Association, Beryl is now a Vice Chair of the Gloucestershire Primary Heads Association and chairs the Inclusion Committee. She also currently chairs the University Primary Initial Teacher Training partnership committee and is the primary representative on Gloucestershire Initial Teacher Education Partnership management committee. Beryl will receive an Honorary Fellowship.
Born in Japan in 1951, Dr Handa operates more than a dozen companies in Japan and abroad, ranging from management consulting to publishing. He is heavily involved with social causes; currently serving as the vice-president of the UK’s Royal National Institute for the Blind; director of World Faith Development Dialogue; president of the International Shinto Foundation; advisor to the Council for a Parliament of the World’s Religions; and chairman of the International Foundation for Arts and Culture. Dr Handa has founded over 90 schools in the remote region of China, and two schools and a Health Centre in Albania, as well as contributing $1 million to the Lambeth Academy. He has made a significant contribution in Cambodia where he built a 24 hour free emergency hospital and runs this hospital in collaboration with a local Christian group. Recognised for his contributions to the nation, Dr Handa was conferred the decoration of Commander of the Royal Order of Sahametrai, Grand Officer of the Royal Order of Sowathara, and Commander and Grand Cross of the Royal Order of Monisaraphon. He is co-founder and chancellor of the University of Cambodia, honorary consul of the Kingdom of Cambodia in Fukuoka and also advisor to the Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Cambodia. Partaking in a variety of artistic and cultural activities, Dr Handa is a poet, artist, actor and opera singer of note. He has published and sold a great number of books and paintings, as well as being a known radio personality in Japan. He is the recipient of the Medal with Dark Blue Ribbon of Japan.
Born in 1937, Ghillean grew up in Toddington, Gloucestershire following the Second World War and from a young age showed a keen interest in natural history. He studied botany at Keble College, Oxford and went on several expeditions before working his way up to become the Research Director and Vice President of the New York Botanical Gardens. In 1987, he was invited to return to the UK to become the Director of the Royal Botanical Gardens in Kew. Ghillean was knighted in 1995 and following his retirement in 1999 he has involved himself with the Eden Project as their Science Director. Ghillean is a committed Christian and is the Vice-Chancellor of the University’s Foundation Fellows.
Born in London in 1926, Michael decided on a career in teaching following the completion of his studies. He subsequently spent the next 22 years teaching in different schools across London before joining the civil service in 1971. Michael relocated to Cheltenham in the 1990s and he quickly became involved with the local Hebrew community and from 1999 to 2008 he was Chairman of the Synagogue. Together with his wife, Miriam, they made the Synagogue more welcoming and available to school groups, as well as organising educational talks and visits to the Synagogue. Michael has worked with student teachers from the university giving them the opportunity to learn about Judaism. The manner in which he teaches about Judaism and Jewish life, together with the open minded and multi-faith approach he adopts, offer an inspiring role model for teachers graduating from the University.
She has been planning and leading art and cultural tours across the world for the past thirty years. Having started in her late teens, she was asked to join the specialist art tours company, Special Tours Ltd, becoming a Director and then Chairman before leaving in 1989 to concentrate on writing. Lucy wrote and published ‘Prague: A Guide’ in 1991. Lucy is the chairman and co-founder of the Quenington Sculpture Trust in Gloucestershire.
David started his career in London in 1978, then after stints as head of three London restaurants David and his wife, Helen, came to Cheltenham in 1987 and opened Le Champignon Sauvage. Over the last 22 years, the restaurant has celebrated food from the local area and is known throughout the world for quality, innovation and respect for local ingredients. The restaurant was awarded two Michelin stars in 2000. David has trained some of the best young chefs in the country and works closely with American Express young chef and waiter’s competition, as well as Springboard UK. He was awarded The Catey National Chef of the Year 2007. In 2004, David’s first book Essence was published and was quickly awarded the title of Most Innovative Book in the UK in the World Gourmand Book awards, and is regarded by many of his peers to be one of the most important cookery books of the last 20 years. His work and dedication to his craft is internationally recognised and over the years he has amassed many National awards. His second book, Dessert was released in February of this year.
Levi gained widespread fame after appearing on Dragons’ Den looking for funding for his Reggae Reggae Sauce. This barbeque sauce is a secret family recipe, used on the family food stall at the Notting Hill Carnival since 1991. He was approached by a BBC producer to appear in the fourth series of Dragons’ Den and successfully received the backing he was pitching for. Following his television appearance, Sainsbury’s announced they would be stocking the sauce in 600 of their stores. Levi has gone on to appear on different programmes and in aid of Comic Relief, released an extended version of the “reggae reggae sauce” song performed on Dragons’ Den. Levi has visited and spoken at the University about his success, and is the recipient of an Honorary Fellowship in recognition of his work and achievements.
He is a trustee of the Music Sound Foundation, a charity devoted to improving young peoples' access to music education, and a trustee of the EMI Archive Trust. Tony is a Visiting Fellow to the University and provided advice on the validation of the Popular Music degree. Tony is the recipient of an Honorary Doctorate of Music in recognition of his contribution to the music industry. 28/10/09 11:39 |
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