19 April 2004

University honours eleven luminaries
Leeds is celebrating 100 years of success by conferring honorary degrees on outstanding academics, illustrious graduates and local figures in business, sports and the arts who embody the University’s spirit of endeavour.

Shakespearean heavyweight and Lord of the Rings star Sir Ian McKellen leads a cast of high achievers from academic and public life to be awarded honorary degrees: Leeds United legend Jack Charlton; Leeds-born poet Tony Harrison; leading scientist Professor Dame Julia Higgins; supermarket supremo Sir Kenneth Morrison; top civil servant Baroness Prashar of Runnymede; academic and entrepreneur Professor David Rhodes and Kenyan-born writer Ngugi wa Thiong’o.

The honorary degrees will be conferred at a Centenary Celebration in the Great Hall at 2.45pm on April 29. Presenters will include Leeds honorary graduates Jude Kelly, Caryl Phillips and Sir Ernest Hall.

	Centenary events will begin on April 22 in the Parkinson Court at which three Emeritus professors will also be awarded honorary degrees. Emeritus Professor Zygmunt Bauman, who worked at the University from 1972 until his retirement in 1990, is one of the most notable social theorists of the 20th century and the world’s foremost sociologist of post-modernity. A refugee from political and anti-semitic persecution in his native Poland, Professor Bauman was the first professor of sociology at Leeds. He has published 25 books in English, twelve following his retirement when he was well into his seventies. Professor Bauman has worked at the universities of Warsaw and Tel Aviv and holds many honorary degrees. He will receive a Doctor of Letters.
	Emeritus Professor Maurice Beresford is a leading academic of economic history who has transformed medieval archeology and stimulated the study of landscape history. After studying at Cambridge, Professor Beresford joined the University of Leeds in 1948. He is perhaps most noted for his forty-season excavation of the depopulated medieval village of Wharram Percy in North Yorkshire. A fellow of the British Academy, Professor Beresford has published books on subjects ranging from medieval to 20th century history and writtten extensively for the Economic History Review. Professor Beresford will receive a Doctor of Letters.
	Emeritus Professor Duncan Dowson studied for his first degree and doctorate at the University’s school of mechanical engineering, going on to become an outstanding researcher and servant of the University. He has pioneered the study of tribology – the branch of engineering dealing with the relation of surfaces in motion and their lubrication – and his work has appeared in nearly 500 publications worldwide. He was Pro-Vice-Chancellor (1983-85), head of the department of mechanical engineering (1987-92) and dean of international relations (1988-93). Professor Dowson was elected to the Fellowship of the Royal Academy of Engineers in 1982, and awarded a CBE in 1989. He will be made a Doctor of Engineering.
	Jack Charlton’s football career has spanned decades and commanded respect as both a player and manager. In his 21 years at Leeds United, Jack made 772 appearances and achieved legendary status as an uncompromising defender. He won 35 caps for England and was in the victorious England world cup squad of 1966. After hanging up his boots, Jack found success off the pitch as manager of Middlesbrough (1973-77), Sheffield Wednesday (1977-83), Newcastle United (1984-85) and the successful Republic of Ireland squad of 1986-95. Jack was awarded an OBE in 1974 and named footballer of the year in 1967. The University will award him a Doctor of Laws.
	Born and brought up in Leeds, Tony Harrison graduated from the University with a BA in classics and a Diploma in linguistics. One of Harrison’s most renowned works is a 1970 collection of poems drawing on the cultural identity of the people of Leeds, ‘The Loiners’, which won the Geoffrey Faber Memorial Prize. Harrison is known all over the world and he has lectured in English in Nigeria and Prague. His adaptations of Moliere’s ‘The Misanthrope’ and ‘The Oresteia’ were major successes at the National Theatre. He has also written for New York Metropolitan Opera, the BBC and Channel 4. In 1995, he worked for The Guardian during the Bosnian war as a war poet writing from the frontline. He received the Whitbread Award for poetry in 1992 for ‘The Gaze of the Gorgon’ and became the first Northern Arts Literary Fellow 1967-68 and 1976-7. In 1984 he was made a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. He will receive a Doctor of Letters.
	Professor Dame Julia Higgins is one of the world’s leading female scientists and researchers. She is Foreign Secretary of the Royal Society - only the second female officer of the Society since 1660 - and chairs the advisory board of the Athena Project, which is dedicated to the advancement of women in science, engineering and technology. Dame Julia chairs the Advisory Board of the Interdisciplinary Research Centre in Polymer Science and Technology in which Leeds University is a leading collaborator. She was made a Dame of the British Empire in 2001. Dame Julia will be awarded a Doctor of Science.
	Sir Ian McKellen is one of the biggest names in cinema and the greatest stage actor of his generation. He is known for his skillful ability to bring Shakespearean characters to life, notably in his film portrayal of Richard III. Recently he was nominated for an Oscar for his role as Gandalf in the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Sir Ian has performed on numerous occasions at the West Yorkshire Playhouse, Leeds, with lead roles in ‘The Seagull’ (1998), ‘Present Laughter’ (1998) and ‘The Tempest’ (1999). His performance in ‘The Seagull’ won him the 1999 Barclay’s Theatre Award for best supporting performance. Sir Ian received a CBE in 1979, a Knighthood in 1991 for services to the performing arts and a Golden Globe Award in 1996 for his portrayal of Tsar Nicholas II in Rasputin. Sir Ian will be awarded a Doctor of Letters.
	Yorkshire-born Sir Kenneth Morrison is one of the region’s most successful businessmen. From the humble beginnings of a Bradford market stall he created a supermarket empire of 127 stores and, in March 2004, completed a £3bn takeover of Safeway to extend his empire to 454 stores from Shetlands to Penzance. He is the longest serving chairman of any FTSE 100 company. Ken Morrison values simple marketing strategies and has said that running supermarkets is a matter of, ‘taking money off people and giving them something in return.’ His services to the food industry were recognized with a knighthood in 2000. He will be awarded a Doctor of Laws.
	Leeds political studies graduate Baroness Usha Prashar of Runnymede was appointed First Civil Service Commissioner in 2000. She is also Chairman of the National Literary Trust, Chairman of the Royal Commonwealth Society and on the board of student accommodation specialist, the Unite Group. Baroness Prashar was awarded a CBE in 1995 for public service and community relations and was created a life peer in June 1999. Baroness Prashar has undertaken a vast array of voluntary projects including directorships of the National Council of Voluntary Organizations and the Runnymede Trust. She will be awarded a Doctor of Laws.
	Engineering Professor David Rhodes studied for both his BSc and PhD at Leeds and is an outstanding academic and entrepreneur. Following his PhD, Professor Rhodes spent a short time in the US before returning to Leeds in 1969. In 1981 he became an Industrial Professor and during this period Professor Rhodes founded the highly successful electronic components company Filtronic. The Shipley-based company is now a multinational business and floated on the London Stock Exchange in 1994. Professor Rhodes has received an OBE and CBE for his academic and industrial achievement and in 2003 he was awarded the prestigious Prince Philip Medal by the Royal Academy of Engineering. Professor Rhodes will receive a Doctor of Engineering.
	Ngugi wa Thiong’o was born in Kenya, studied at Leeds in the 1960s and is one of the most prominent African writers in the literary world. His most notable works include ‘Weep Not Child’, which he began writing in Leeds, which tells the story of a boy growing up against a backdrop of anti-colonial conflict in 1950s Kenya. Ngugi is one of Africa’s most articulate social critics and is central to current post-colonial debates on literature and culture. He has received numerous literary awards including the Unesco prize, has taught at Yale and New York universities and is director of the International Centre for Writing and Translation at the University of California. Ngugi gave the first Arthur Ravenscroft Memorial lecture at Leeds. He will be awarded a Doctor of Letters.

Photo opportunity: 3.30pm, Thursday 29 April, Great Hall, University of Leeds

Images from the honorary graduation ceremonies will be available from the press office, 0113 343 4100, pressoffice@leeds.ac.uk or can be downloaded from www.leeds.ac.uk/centenary/downloads/

For more information contact:
Vanessa Bridge, Head of Communications, 0113 343 4030, v.bridge@leeds.ac.uk