Honorary degrees awarded in July

Nobel Prize-winning scientist Sir Paul Nurse, musician and television presenter Jools Holland and former world karate champion Wayne Otto were among those receiving honorary degrees from the University in July.

At ceremonies that took place in Canterbury and Rochester Cathedrals, the University also awarded honorary degrees to nine other distinguished figures.

These were: corporate investment director Valerie Marshall, archaeologist Brian Philp, health policy analyst Professor Christopher Ham, playwright and actor Rebecca Lenkiewicz, lawyer Phil Shiner, comedy writer John Lloyd, civil engineer Dr Jean Venables, biochemist Dr Garry Rogerson and clergyman the Rt Rev Adrian Newman.

Sir Paul Nurse is the current President of the Royal Society, London, and was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 2001 for his genetics research with two others on protein molecules and their impact on cells. He took up the post of President of the Royal Society for a five-year term on 1 December 2010. He was Professor of Microbiology at the University of Oxford, CEO of the Imperial Cancer Research Fund and Cancer Research UK and President of Rockefeller University New York. He is currently Director and Chief Executive of the Francis Crick Institute.

Jools Holland OBE, composer, pianist, bandleader and broadcaster, lives near Rochester in Kent. He began his career playing pubs in the East End docks as a teenager and was then a member of the successful band Squeeze before leading his rhythm and blues orchestra. His passion for music made him a doyen of the UK music scene and he was awarded an OBE in 2003 for his services to the British music industry. His extensive charity work has included fundraising for HIV charities and concerts to raise money for the maintenance of Rochester Cathedral. In 2006 he was appointed a Deputy Lieutenant of Kent.

Wayne Otto OBE is Britain's most successful karate athlete. He graduated from the University of Kent in 1992 with a BSc in Communications Engineering. Born in London, he attended schools in Hackney and began training in karate at the age of fourteen. Four years later he was representing England at the Junior European Karate Championships. In 1997 he became Britain's most successful karate exponent gaining his ninth World Championship title at the World Cup Championships in Manila. In 2001 he was awarded an OBE for services to the sport of karate.

Valerie Marshall is a corporate investment director and was a member of Council at the University of Kent from 2003 to 2011, the last six years of which saw her serving as Chair. During this period she became deputy chair of the Committee of University Chairs, one of the national bodies which represent universities' interests to the government and other agencies. She is chief executive officer of corporate finance boutique Strategem Corporate Finance and Strategy Ltd. Valerie Marshall is also a Chartered Fellow of the Securities and Investment Institute.

Brian Philp is an archaeologist who was responsible for the discovery of the Roman Painted House at Dover and a number of other important finds in Kent. The author of Archaeology in the Front Line: 50 Years of Kent Rescue 1952-2002, he has completed over 700 archaeological projects in Kent and South East London and also published nearly 140 articles on his work in Kent. He is an Elected Fellow of the Society of Antiquities, London and has previously lectured at the University of Kent.

Professor Christopher Ham CBE is a University of Kent graduate who took up the post of Chief Executive of The King's Fund in April 2010. He has been professor of health policy and management at the University of Birmingham since 1992. From 2000 to 2004 he was seconded to the Department of Health, where he was director of the strategy unit, working with ministers on NHS reform. He is the author of 20 books and numerous articles about health policy and management. He was awarded a CBE in 2004 for his services to the National Health Service.

Rebecca Lenkiewicz is a playwright, actor and poet who graduated from the University of Kent in 1989 with a BA in Literature and Film. Her play Her Naked Skin was performed at the National Theatre in 2008 and was the first play by a female playwright to be performed in the Olivier Theatre. Other plays include The Night Season, Soho, The Painter, Shoreditch Madonna, That Almost Unnameable Lust, The Typist, Blue Moon Over Poplar, Wisconsin, Stars Over Kabul. Other work includes plays for radio and television and several film scripts. She is also developing a feature film with Pawel Pawlikowski and is writing for Channel Four.

Phil Shiner is the principal lawyer at Public Interest Lawyers. He has an international reputation for his work on issues concerning international, environmental and human rights law. He has acted in some of the most constitutionally significant human rights test cases of recent years. He was Liberty/Justice Human Rights Lawyer of the Year 2004 for his work on Iraq and was the Law Society’s Solicitor of the Year 2007. He is a Vice-President of the Haldane Society and is co-editor of The Iraq War and International Law.

John Lloyd CBE is a renowned comedy writer and TV producer who was born in Dover and educated at the King's School Canterbury. While reading Law at Trinity College, Cambridge he appeared in the 1973 Footlights Revue and was subsequently recruited by the BBC as a staff writer and trainee producer. His speciality since has been starting enduring new broadcast formats. Two of the radio shows which he created in the mid-seventies, Quote...Unquote, and The News Quiz (the model for Have I Got News For You), are still running today. He also co-wrote the first series of both The Hitchhikers Guide to The Galaxy and To The Manor Born. On television he was one of the creators of Spitting Image, Not the Nine O’Clock News and Blackadder. In 2011 he was awarded a CBE.

Dr Jean Venables CBE was born in Dover and educated at Dover Girls Grammar School. She is Chief Executive of the Association of Drainage Authorities (ADA), as well as Chairman of Crane Environmental and Past President of the Institution of Civil Engineers. As Chief Executive of ADA, she represents organisations involved with water level management and flood risk management, including Internal Drainage Boards, Flood and Coastal Committees, Environment Agency, Local Authorities and Associate Members. She was awarded the MBE for services to civil engineering, the OBE for services to flood defence and the CBE for services to the civil engineering profession and the Institution of Civil Engineers' Garth Watson Medal.

Dr Garry Rogerson was born in Bromley, Kent and graduated from the University of Kent in 1974 with a BSc in Biochemistry and then went on to gain a PhD four years later. He joined Advanced Energy in August 2011 as chief executive officer and board member. He was chairman and chief executive officer, from 2009 and 2004, respectively, of Varian, Inc., a major supplier of scientific instruments and consumable laboratory supplies, vacuum products and services, until the purchase of Varian by Agilent Technologies Inc., in May 2010. Dr Rogerson also served as Varian's chief operating officer from 2002 to 2004; as senior vice president, scientific instruments, from 2001 to 2002; and as vice president, analytical instruments, from 1999 to 2001.

The

Rt Rev Adrian Newman, formerly the Dean of Rochester, became the new Bishop of Stepney in July of last year. The appointment marked his return to East London, where he began his career as a curate in the London Borough of Newham. Urban churches have been at the heart of his work in the Church and he has also worked in parishes in Sheffield and in Birmingham. He took a sabbatical in 2010 to research the role of the Church in addressing urban poverty. As Dean of Rochester Cathedral from 2005, his role involved responsible for leading the cathedral in its mission and ministry, representing the cathedral in its engagement with the wider community, and working as a member of the Bishop of Rochester's senior staff.

Contact: pressoffice@kent.ac.uk

Story published at 12:13pm 19 July 2012