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University honorary degrees

Veteran broadcaster Sir David Frost and renowned geographer and social theorist Professor David Harvey are to receive honorary degrees from the University of Kent at the University's degree ceremonies at Rochester Cathedral on Wednesday 19 November. The eminent scientist Sir John Enderby will also be awarded an honorary degree by the University at a degree ceremony at Canterbury Cathedral on Friday 21 November. Sir David Frost will receive the honorary degree of Doctor of Letters (DLitt) while Professor Harvey and Sir John will both receive the degree of Doctor of Science (DSc).

Sir David Frost - who was born in Tenterden, Kent, and attended Gillingham Grammar School - is famed both as a pioneer of television satire and for his series of landmark political interviews. He came to public prominence as host and co-creator of the weekly satirical show That Was The Week That Was in the early 1960s, and has since produced a vast array of television programmes. He is also the joint founder of London Weekend Television and TV-am, as well as the author of 15 books and producer of eight films.

He is one of the world's best-known television interviewers. According to the New York Times, his interviews with former US President Richard Nixon achieved 'the largest audience for a news interview in history'. Among the many other world figures that he has interviewed are the seven most recent British Prime Ministers; members of the Royal Family including Prince Charles and The Princess Royal, and the seven most recent Presidents of the United States.

Professor David Harvey is a leading theorist in the field of urban studies, and was referred to as 'one of the most influential geographers of the later twentieth century' by Library Journal. Born in Gillingham, Kent, he also attended Gillingham Grammar School. Today he holds the position of Distinguished Professor of Anthropology at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York.

A prolific author, his awards include the Outstanding Contributor Award of the Association of American Geographers and the 2002 Centenary Medal of the Royal Scottish Geographical Society for his 'outstanding contribution to the field of geographical enquiry and to anthropology'.

A former president of the Institute of Physics, Sir John is Emeritus Professor and Senior Researcher at the University of Bristol. He was originally appointed Professor of Physics at Bristol in 1976 and was also Head of Department and Director of the H O Wills Physics Laboratory.

Throughout his career, Sir John has held a range of influential positions including that of Directeur-Adjoint at the Institut Laue-Langevin in Grenoble. Elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1985, he was the Society's Vice-President and Physical Secretary 1999-2004, and among his many honours is the Institute of Physic's Guthrie medal and prize. He is widely published in the field of structure and properties of liquids, and is Chairman of Melys Diagnostics Ltd.

Contact: mediaoffice@kent.ac.uk

Story published at 11:55am 21 November 2008