Alumni engagement and philanthropy



LEADERS FROM BUSINESS, SCIENCE AND THE ARTS ARE AMONG QUEEN'S 2017 HONORARY GRADUATES 

08 March 2017

Queen’s University has today (08 March) released details of its Honorary Graduate ‘Class of 2017’. The University awards honorary degrees to individuals who have achieved high distinction or given significant service in public or professional life, and who serve as ambassadors for the University and Northern Ireland around the world.

 

The 15 person list includes well-known local names from the world of sport, captains of business and industry, prominent academics, leading lights from the arts and public servants. Among them are Professor Dame Nancy Rothwell FRS, President and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Manchester and Professor Mary Daly, President of The Royal Irish Academy (RIA).

Other key figures from the world of academia include: Professor Sir John Pethica FRS, Chief Scientific Adviser at the National Physical Laboratory and Professor of Material Science at Trinity College Dublin; Professor Lesley Yellowlees, Vice-Principal at the University of Edinburgh and the first female President of the Royal Society of Chemistry 2012–14; and Professor Sylvia Walby OBE, a Distinguished Professor of Sociology at Lancaster University and the first holder of the UNESCO Chair of Gender Research.

Distinguished names from the fields of business and commerce, including John Agnew CBE, Group Chairman of Henderson Wholesale; John Rainey MBE, Chairman and co-founder of the Denroy Group; Stephen Luczo, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Seagate Technologies; and Joe Sloan, co-founder of the SHS Group, will each receive an honorary doctorate for their services to business and commerce.

Belfast-born boxer, Carl Frampton MBE, is to be honoured for distinction in sport. Frampton is the first professional boxer from Northern Ireland to have held world titles in two weight divisions, including featherweight and super-bantamweight.  Four-time Paralympic gold-medallist swimmer, Bethany Firth MBE, will also receive an honorary doctorate for distinction in sport. Bethany, from County Down has competed for both Great Britain and Ireland since 2012, taking part in the London Paralympic Games, Rio Paralympic Games and the Commonwealth Games.

Sir Malcolm McKibbin, Head of the Northern Ireland Civil Service (NICS) and Permanent Secretary of the Office of the First Minister and deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland, will receive an honorary doctorate for distinction in public service.

Irish-American philanthropist, Loretta Brennan Glucksman, who was granted an Honorary Commander of the British Empire by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth, the highest honour for a non-British citizen, for her work toward peace in Northern Ireland, and the Irish-Canadian playwright, literary historian, novelist, and screenwriter, Emma Donoghue, are also among the recipients.

Fatou Bensouda of The Gambia will be honoured for distinction in public service and law. Mrs Bensouda is the first female to hold the role of the Prosecutor with the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, The Netherlands. Prior to joining the ICC, she served in different capacities at the UN Int. Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, and in her native country, as the Attorney General and Minister of Justice of The Republic of the Gambia.

The full list of honorary graduates to be awarded this year (as pictured above) is as follows (L-R):

(Top row)

  •  John Agnew CBE, DSc Econ for services to business and commerce
  •  Fatou Bensouda, LLD for distinction in public service and law
  • Loretta Brennan Glucksman, DSc Econ for services to business and commerce
  • Professor Mary Daly, DLit for distinction in humanities
  • Emma Donoghue, DLit for distinction in the arts and literature

 (Middle row)

  •  Bethany Firth MBE, DUni for distinction in sport
  • Carl Frampton MBE, DUni for distinction in sport
  • Stephen J. Luczo, DSc Econ for services to business and commerce
  • Sir Malcolm McKibbin, LLD for distinction in public service
  • Professor Sir John Pethica FRS, DSc for services to science

 (Bottom row)

  •  John Rainey MBE, DSc Econ for services to business and commerce
  • Professor Dame Nancy Rothwell FRS, DMed for distinction in medicine
  • Joe Sloan, DSc Econ for services to business and commerce
  • Professor Sylvia Walby OBE, DSSc for distinction in sociology
  • Professor Lesley Yellowlees, DSc for services to science

Carl Frampton MBE, Stephen Luczo and Professor Dame Nancy Rothwell FRS will receive their honorary degrees in December 2017, while the other recipients will be honoured during Summer Graduation Week, which will take place at Queen’s from 29 June – 5 July 2017. The full graduation ceremony schedule is available here.

Media inquiries to Communications Office, tel: 028 90 97 3091.

Photo credit: John Agnew (Food NI); Fatou Bensouda (Wikipedia); Loretta Brennan Glucksman (IrishAmerican.com); Professor Mary Daly (UCD); Emma Donoghue (EmmaDonoghue.com); Bethany Firth (uksportsassociation.org); Carl Frampton MBE (Wikipedia); Stephen J. Luczo (Seagate.com); Sir Malcolm McKibbin (Civil Service World); Professor Sir John Pethica (Royal Society); John Rainey MBE (Estetica Magazine); Professor Dame Nancy Rothwell (University of Manchester); Joe Sloan (Belfast Telegraph); Professor Sylvia Walby (Lancaster University); Professor Lesley Yellowlees (Wikipedia);

 

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