Graduation ceremonies to celebrate success

Ceremonies for 600 Postgraduate and School of Health and Wellbeing students will take place on Wednesday 31 March and Thursday 1 April 2010.

Family, friends and University staff will also attend the celebrations at the Grand Theatre in Lichfield Street, Wolverhampton.

Students who have completed Postgraduate degrees across all academic Schools will collect their awards on Wednesday at 6.30pm.

School of Health and Wellbeing graduates who have studied courses including midwifery, nursing and community health will celebrate their success at 10.30am and 2.45pm on Thursday.

Vice Chancellor, Professor Caroline Gipps, said: “Graduation is a unique occasion in which we publically recognise the outcome of our students’ determination, commitment and sheer hard work.

“It is also an opportunity to express appreciation for all those who have made this success possible; not just staff at the University of Wolverhampton but family, friends and colleagues who have supported our students throughout their studies.”

The University will also present an Honorary Degree of Doctor of Social Science to Stephen Machin, who is Professor of Economics at University College London. Stephen is also Research Director of the Centre for Economic Performance at the London School of Economics and Director of the Centre for the Economics of Education.

Four senior members of University staff will be conferred with professorships at the Postgraduate ceremony. Mike Haynes from the University of Wolverhampton Business School, Garry Homer and John Traxler, both from the School of Computing and Information Technology, and Kevin Kibble from the School of Engineering and the Built Environment, will all be honoured for their achievements.

A number of visiting and honorary professorships will also be conferred. These are presented to distinguished professors from other institutions who are working in different capacities with members of University staff. Journalist and broadcaster Peter Hobday, who presented BBC Radio 4’s Today programme for 14 years, will be made a Visiting Professor of Music and Media, while former Director of Curriculum at the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA), Mick Waters, will become a Visiting Professor of Education.

The other Visiting and Honorary Professorships are:

David Brown, Director of Children’s Services for Walsall Local Authority – Visiting Professor of Education Leadership.

Patrick Hanks, Lexicographer and editor of the first edition of the Collins English Dictionary (1979) – Visiting Professor of Computational Lexicography

A R Gatrad, Consultant Paediatrician at the Manor Hospital in Walsall – Honorary Professor of Paediatrics and Child Health

Surinder Sharma, National Director for Equality and Human Rights at the Department of Health – Honorary Professor of Equality and Human Rights

Sam Ramaiah, Director of Public Health, Medical Director and Deputy Chief Executive of Walsall NHS Teaching Primary Care Trust – Honorary Professor of Health and Wellbeing

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