17 February 2004

University of Dundee honorary degrees

From political commentator Andrew Marr to cancer survivor and sportswoman Jane Tomlinson, the University of Dundee will be conferring honorary degrees on ten outstanding individuals at the summer graduation ceremonies.

University Principal Sir Alan Langlands welcomed the announcement of this year's honorary graduands saying: "We are proud to be able to honour these ten distinguished individuals each of whom has made a valuable and different contribution to society. I hope that their success will inspire our students and we look forward to conferring on them the honorary degree of Doctor of Laws - LLD."

Professor Gavin Brown, a distinguished mathematician, is Vice-Chancellor of the University of Sydney. Awarded the Sir Edmund Whittaker memorial prize and the Australian Mathematical Society medal for his work involving Fourier analysis, Professor Brown rose to become Vice-President of the Council of the Australian Academy of Science and has been active in many other research bodies. Born in Lundin Links, Fife, he is a graduate and honorary graduate of the University of St Andrews. He is now on the Executive of the Association of Pacific Rim universities, the Business Higher Education Round Table, Australian Vice Chancellors’ Committee and the Global Foundation.

Colin Campbell QC is Dean of the Faculty of Advocates. A graduate of the University of Dundee, he has been a part-time member of the Mental Welfare Commission for Scotland since 1997. He was a Standing Junior Counsel to the Scottish Office Development department from 1984-1990 and lecturer at Edinburgh University earlier in his career.

Alison Goligher is a Managing Director of Schlumberger Oilfield Services, the world’s largest oilfield services company and one of only a handful of women in the UK to have risen to such a level in the male-dominated oil business. A graduate of Heriot-Watt University she cut her teeth in industry as a field engineer in Brunei. After various positions in the Far East, US and Norway she took up her current role in Aberdeen in March 2001 assuming responsibility for all business segments of oilfield services in the UK, Ireland and France.

Catherine Lockerbie, the fifth director of the Edinburgh Book Festival has made a real difference to Scotland. Under her leadership the Book Festival has been taken to a new level with high profile debates and discussions. The Book Festival has made a reputation as a place for some of the most illuminating and thought provoking discussions on issues of the day, 650 meet the author events each year and the highly regarded children’s programme.

Hamish MacInnes OBE BEM is a mountaineer, rescuer, designer, film consultant and author. Born in the Borders in 1930 he was one of a small team to undertake the first winter traverse of the Cuillin Ridge in Skye in 1965. He has climbed in the European Alps, Caucasus, New Zealand, South America and the Himalayas, including three expeditions to Mount Everest. Writer of a number of books on travel, MacInnes has also been a producer, advisor and safety expert with film producers such as Fred Zimmermann and David Putnam and actors Sean Connery and Clint Eastwood. McInnes is a world leader on mountain safety and rescue. He has designed rescue equipment and is a former leader of the Glencoe Mountain Rescue team.

Professor Duncan Macmillan, an expert on and admirer of Sir Patrick Geddes, father of town planning and one of the University of Dundee’s most famous early professors, is being honoured in 2004, the 150th anniversary of Patrick Geddes’ birth. Macmillan is director of the Talbot Rice Gallery, Professor of the History of Scottish Art at the University of Edinburgh and author of several works on Scottish Art and artists. Scottish Art 1460-2000 by Professor Macmillan is a definitive account of Scottish art and makes a seminal contribution to the history of Scottish art.

Andrew Marr, the BBC's top political commentator started his journalistic career as a trainee reporter at the Scotsman. Since then he has worked for the Independent, The Economist as political editor and columnist for The Express and The Observer. He was appointed political editor of the BBC in May 2000. Awards include Columnist of the Year, Journalist of the Year and the best individual contributor on television. Andrew Marr attended Dundee High School for his early schooling and lived near the city as a young boy.

Lord Naren Patel is an obstetrician of international standing specialising in the care of mothers in high risk pregnancy. He studied at University of St Andrews and is currently honorary Professor and Consultant at the University of Dundee and Ninewells Hospital. Lord Patel has published widely; his many research papers making a significant contribution to the area of premature labour, fetal growth retardation and obstetric epidemiology. He is Fellow of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists and has been Vice-President and President of the College. He is also Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences and the Royal Society of Edinburgh, and Honorary Fellow of the College of Surgeons of England and Edinburgh. He received a Knighthood in the Birthday Honours List in 1997.

Larry Rolland has been chair of University Court at the University of Dundee for the past six years. He was born in Fife, schooled in Edinburgh and studied Architecture at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art in Dundee. He is a former Senior Partner at Hurd Rolland Partnership, a national firm of architects from 1959-2002. He has many awards for housing in Royal Burghs and restorations of historic buildings and also Times Conservation and Europa Nostra Awards for Rossend Castle. He was President of the Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland from 1979-81 and President of Royal Institute of British Architects from 1985-87.

Jane Tomlinson was nominated by the students for exceptional bravery and selflessness in the face of adversity. When Jane was diagnosed with terminal cancer in 2000 she decided to train for a 5km Race for Life to raise money for Cancer Research UK. Since then she has run the London Marathon, London Triathlon and the Great North Run raising a total of £451,000 for charities to date.

By Jenny Marra, Head of Press 01382 344910, out of hours: 07968298585, j.m.marra@dundee.ac.uk