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A retired football commentator, a former Chief Constable and a composer of film, television and theatre music are being honoured by the University of Nottingham at this year’s summer graduation.
Seven honorary graduands, all leaders in their respective fields, will join thousands of students who will receive their degrees in a series of ceremonies from Thursday 12 - Friday 20 July 2018.
The ceremonies will take place at the David Ross Sports Village on University Park, where students and their families will join the selected seven who will be formally celebrated for making an exceptional contribution in their chosen professions.
The ceremonies will be broadcast live on the University website.
The honorary graduands include:
Susannah Fish OBE QPM
Joining Nottingham Police as a Police Constable in 1986, Susannah Fish has worked in uniform and detective roles across Nottinghamshire, the West Midlands and the Metropolitan Police.
Leading the successful response to gun crime in Nottingham in the 2000s, she went on to head the national gun crime response for five years.
Her career culminated in her appointment as Chief Constable of Nottinghamshire Police, the second woman to hold this senior position. With a consistent commitment to equality, she has championed diversity issues and acted as a role model for women within her profession.
She was awarded an OBE in 2008, the Queen’s Policing Medal in 2016, and the Upstander of the Year award in the 2017 National Hate Crime Awards for her leadership on misogyny as a hate crime.
In recognition of her services to policing and public life Susannah will receive the Honorary Degree of Doctor of Laws.
George Fenton
One of Britain’s most distinguished and versatile composers, George Fenton started writing music for film, television and theatre in the 1970s. Working with directors including Richard Attenborough and Ken Loach, George’s film scores include classics such as Gandhi, Groundhog Day and You’ve Got Mail and more recent projects such as I, Daniel Blake and The Lady in the Van. On television, his signature tunes include Newsnight, The Jewel in the Crown, Talking Heads and Bergerac. Pioneering an ambitious new standard for natural history productions by utilising orchestral music over low-budget synthesised scores, his credits include The Blue Planet, Planet Earth and Frozen Planet, which he regularly conducts live in concert.
A Fellow of the Royal College of Music, George has been nominated for five Oscars and has won multiple Ivor Novello, BAFTA and Emmy Awards. Enjoying a long association with the University as Honorary Professor of Film Music, he has supported many talented students to pursue a career in music.
In recognition of his services to music George will receive the Honorary Degree of Doctor of Music.
Colin Slater MBE
For almost 50 years, football commentator Colin Slater reported the highs and lows of Notts County Football Club’s fortunes, covering more than 2,500 matches before retiring in 2017. Becoming the Notts County correspondent for the Nottingham Evening News at the start of the 1959-60 season, he went on to cover the club at the Nottingham Evening Post and then at BBC Radio Nottingham when it took to the airwaves in 1968.
He was behind the microphone during memorable matches in the club’s history, including a 2-0 win over Chelsea in 1981 and during the 1990s when the Magpies twice won promotion and beat Ascoli to win the Anglo-Italian Cup. A local radio legend, he has received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Sony Radio Academy and was awarded an MBE in 2001.
In recognition of his services to football commentary Colin Slater will receive the Honorary Degree of Doctor of Letters.
Professor Ted Cantle, CBE DL
Over a long and distinguished career in public service, Ted Cantle has worked tirelessly to improve local communities in Nottingham and beyond. He has held a number of senior positions including Chief Executive of Nottingham City Council, Chair of the Queens Medical Centre and Deputy Chair of the Environment Agency, and more recently in academia, publishing two books and over 200 articles.
In 2004, he was awarded a CBE and was appointed a Deputy Lieutenant of Nottinghamshire. A national expert on inter-cultural relations, Ted is best known as the founder of ‘community cohesion’, following his review of the 2001 race riots and the publication of the Cantle Report. Describing the ‘parallel lives’ within communities, the report led to a new approach to race and community relations, based on intercultural exchange to break down fear and prejudice.
In recognition of his outstanding public service Ted will receive the Honorary Degree of Doctor of Laws.
The full list of honorary graduands for Summer Graduation 2018 is:
Sir Peter Kendall was President of the National Farmers’ Union for eight years Sir Peter’s overriding passion has been to change the image of farming from a problematic old-fashioned industry to one that is innovative, exciting and central to the global challenges depicted by the UK Government’s Foresight report on the Future of Food and Farming, in 2015 he received a Knighthood for his services to the agricultural industry in England and Wales.
Sir Peter Kendall will receive the Honorary Degree of Doctor of Laws.
- Professor Sir John Savill FRSE FMedSci FRS
Professor Sir John Savill is one of the most respected academic medical leaders in the UK. One of his many roles was Chief Executive and Deputy Chair of the Medical research Council. He received a Knighthood in 2008.
Professor Sir John Savill will receive the Honorary Degree of Doctor of Medicine.
Andrew has spent the last 15 years in the conservation sector. Andrew has invaluably contributed to the quality of research and the student experience in the School of Life Sciences at the University
Andrew Lowe will receive the Honorary Degree of Doctor of Sciences.
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Notes to editors:
The University of Nottingham is a research-intensive university with a proud heritage, consistently ranked among the world's top 100. Studying at the University of Nottingham is a life-changing experience and we pride ourselves on unlocking the potential of our 44,000 students - Nottingham was named University of the Year for Graduate Employment in the 2017 Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide, was awarded gold in the TEF 2017 and features in the top 20 of all three major UK rankings. We have a pioneering spirit, expressed in the vision of our founder Sir Jesse Boot, which has seen us lead the way in establishing campuses in China and Malaysia - part of a globally connected network of education, research and industrial engagement. We are ranked eighth for research power in the UK according to REF 2014. We have six beacons of research excellence helping to transform lives and change the world; we are also a major employer and industry partner - locally and globally.
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