Achievements celebrated at graduation

More than 660 students will receive awards at ceremonies at the Grand Theatre in Wolverhampton on Wednesday 20 April and Thursday 21 April 2011.

This year, all three ceremonies will be preceded by a procession of lecturers, senior University staff, Governors and local dignitaries, from the University buildings in Wulfruna Street to the theatre.

The ceremony at 6.30pm on Wednesday will recognise the achievements of Postgraduate students.

Two ceremonies will be held on Thursday at 10.30am and 2.45pm for students from the School of Health and Wellbeing and postgraduate students from the School of Applied Sciences.

Vice-Chancellor, Professor Caroline Gipps, said: “The University takes great pride in the achievements of its students and graduation offers an opportunity to celebrate their hard work and commitment to their studies.

“The academic processions are a wonderful addition to congregation and allow us to share our celebrations with the rest of the city.

“This is my last graduation before I retire from my post as Vice-Chancellor, and it is always a pleasure to witness the happiness that this day brings to our graduates, their families and friends.”

The University’s School of Health and Wellbeing will present an Honorary Degree of Doctor of Science to Professor Tony Hazell, who has been Chair of the UK Nursing and Midwifery Council since January 2009.

Five senior members of University staff will be conferred with professorships. Judith Burnett, Pro Vice-Chancellor and Dean of the School of Law, Social Sciences and Communications; Kate Moss from the School of Law, Social Sciences and Communications; Chike F. Oduoza from the School of Technology; Dew Harrison from the School of Art and Design and Paul Nelson from the School of Applied Sciences will all be awarded the title of Professor.

Kelvin Chan, from the School of Applied Sciences, will also be made Honorary Professor of Natural Product Pharmacy.

In addition, three people will be appointed as Visiting Professors at the University. They are Roberto Navigli, who will be Visiting Professor in Information Retrieval, Diana Inkpen, Visiting Professor in Language Technology, both at the University’s Research Institute for Information and Language Processing (RIILP), and Russel Winder, Visiting Professor in Software Engineering at the School of Technology.

ENDS

For further information about the ceremonies, visit www.wlv.ac.uk/graduation