Leeds honours superstars of science, arts and law

A cartoonist, an astronaut and an opera singer are among 10 leading lights who will receive honorary degrees this year.

NASA astronaut Dr Piers Sellers who became the third Briton in space during the 2002 Atlantis mission, will be made an Honorary Doctor of Science. He completed his PhD at Leeds in 1981.

International opera singer Dame Josephine Barstow, who in 1986 became the first westerner to sing at Moscow’s Bolshoi Theatre for 25 years, will be made an Honorary Doctor of Music.

Yorkshire-born plastic surgeon Dr Fiona Wood, world-acclaimed for her invention of spray-on skin for burns victims, will receive an Honorary Doctorate of Medicine. She was named Australian of the Year in 2005.

Harold Pinter, regarded as Britain’s greatest living playwright, director and screenwriter for works such as The French Lieutenant’s Woman, will be made an honorary Doctor of Letters in April. Pinter received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2005.

Leeds’ Emeritus Professor Tony Wren, whose computerised train and bus schedules have revolutionised transport operations across the world, will receive an Honorary Doctorate of Engineering. His outstanding career at Leeds spanned 42 years.

Indian-born novelist Anita Desai, whose books like Fasting, Feasting have seen her shortlisted three times for the Booker Prize, will receive an Honorary Doctorate of Letters.

Trailblazing biologist Professor Janet Thornton will be named an Honorary Doctor of Science. She is Director of the European Bioinformatics Institute in Cambridge, and a leading authority in protein structures.

Steve Bell, above, The Guardian’s awardwinning cartoonist who graduated from Leeds with a fine arts degree in 1974, will receive an honorary Doctorate of Letters. The University hosted an exhibition of Bell’s work last year.

University Pro-Chancellor and Leeds alumnus David Ansbro, above, will become an Honorary Doctor of Laws before finishing his post in August (see related story). He was managing partner of Eversheds, the world’s third-biggest law firm, and is a former Leeds City Council chief executive.

Genetic engineer and Nobel Prize winner Professor Sydney Brenner will receive an Honorary Doctorate of Medicine in May when he opens a new molecular medicine building at St James’s Hospital bearing his name.

The majority of honorary degrees will be conferred in July.

Photos in order from top: Dr Piers Sellers, Dame Josephine Barstow, Professor Tony Wren, Steve Bell, David Ansbro, Professor Sydney Brenner