16 June 2006

Graduation 2006

Thousands of students will be joined by their families and friends as they celebrate their graduation from the University of Dundee this week.

The University will host four graduation ceremonies in the Caird Hall this week with around 2500 students graduating with degrees, post graduate diplomas and diplomas.

Graduations from the Faculties of Arts & Social Sciences, Education & Social Work, Engineering & Physical Sciences and Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design will be marked on Thursday June 22nd. Ceremonies for the School of Life Sciences, Faculty of Law & Accountancy and the School of Nursing will take place on Friday June 23.

Honorary degrees will be conferred on distinguished guests of the University - Mr Iain Ovens, Professor Zhores Alferov, Dr Suzanne Lacasse, Mr Jimmy Murakami, Professor Sydney Brenner, Dr Christopher Lipinski and Dr Sheena Wellington.

The Graduation garden parties, held on each day of Graduation, will be staged in a specially constructed area to the north of the Dundee University Student Association building in Airlie Place, from 4pm to 6pm.

The University also hosts the Graduates’ Council Discovery Lecture 2006 on Saturday June 24th, which will be given by Edwina Currie. Her lecture is titled "Lies, Damned Lies and Politicians. Why do Politicians Lie?" and takes place in the Bonar Hall at 3 pm. The Discovery Lecture is preceded by the annual meeting of Graduates’ Council to which all graduates of the University are invited. The meeting begins at 1pm.

Photo opportunities with the honorary graduates will take place half an hour before each ceremony in the Robing Room, City Chambers.

Details of the ceremonies and honorary graduates are as follows:

THURSDAY JUNE 22nd
*** Photo opportunity 9.30 am, Robing Room, City Chambers, Dundee. Opportunity to photograph Mr Iain Ovens

10 am. Graduation ceremony for the Faculties of Arts and Social Sciences and and Education and Social Work The University will confer an honorary degree upon Mr Iain Ovens OBE.

Iain Ovens OBE has been Principal of Dundee College since August 1996 and was Principal of Angus College for three and a half years previously. Under his principalship Dundee College has steadily raised its reputation and recently achieved a second outstanding report by HM inspectors for the quality of its operation and his effective leadership.

In 2002 he was awarded an OBE for his services to further education. In 2003 his service to tertiary education was further recognised when he was made a Fellow of the Scottish Qualifications Authority.

*** Photo opportunity 1.30 pm, Robing Room, City Chambers, Dundee. Opportunity to photograph Professor Zhores Alferov, Dr Suzanne Lacasse and Mr Jimmy Murakami.

2 pm. Graduation ceremony for the Faculties of Engineering and Physical Sciences and Duncan Of Jordanstone College of Art and Design

The University will confer honorary degrees upon Professor Zhores Alferov, Dr Suzanne Lacasse and Mr Jimmy Murakami.

Professor Zhores I. ALFEROV was the winner of the Nobel Prize for Physics in 2000. He has been a member of the Scientific staff of the Ioffe Physico-Technical Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences since 1953. He became Director of the Institute in 1987 and then Scientific Director in May, 2003. Since 1962 he has been working in the area of III-V semiconductor heterostructures. His outstanding contributions to physics and technology of III-V semiconductor heterostructures, especially injection properties, development of lasers, solar cells, LED’s, and epitaxy processes have been led to the creation of modern Heterostructure Physics and Electronics.

Dr Suzanne Lacasse has been the Managing Director of the Norwegian Geotechnical Institute, one of the leading institutions of its kind, since 1991.

Dr. Lacasse graduated from high school in Canada at the age of 14. She attended the local Collége de Rouyn, Université de Montréal and graduated in 1967 with the highest distinction. Dr. Lacasse continued her education by studying Civil Engineering at Ecole Polytechnique de Montréal and at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Dr. Lacasse has consulting experiences in many countries around the wold and has made over a hundred and fifty contributions to professional journals and conferences.

Jimmy Teru Murakami is an artist, and animation director/producer who has made an exceptional contribution to the film and television industry. He is internationally recognised as one of the founding fathers of animation. Over five decades, he has worked in California, New York, Japan, France, Italy, the Netherlands, England and Ireland. Murakami's short films have been acclaimed round the world, while he made his feature directing debut with ‘When the Wind Blows’ (1985).

He won a BAFTA award in 1964 for Best Animated Film for "Insects" and in 1968 he was nominated for an Oscar for his short film, ‘The Magic Pear Tree’. Last year The Animation Guild awarded Mr Murakami their “Golden award” as a veteran of the animation industry. The award is given to key artists who have contributed to the highest standards of animation production and is one of the most respected accolades to be presented from the industry.

FRIDAY JUNE 23rd
*** Photo opportunity 9.30 am, Robing Room, City Chambers, Dundee. Opportunity to photograph Professor Sydney Brenner and Dr Christopher Lipinski.

10 am. Graduation ceremony for Faculties of Life Sciences and Law and Accountancy.

The University will confer honorary degrees upon Professor Sydney Brenner and Dr Christopher Lipinski.

Professor Sydney Brenner, the South African scientist, is one of the pioneers of genetic engineering and an icon of science. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in 2002 in physiology or medicine along with another University of Dundee honorary graduate, Sir John Sulston, for his work on a specific model organism, the tiny worm C. elegans

His ground breaking work on C. elegans has had implications for understanding a range of diseases, including cancer, AIDS, strokes, and neurodegenerative diseases.

37 years after he identified the right organism, more than 3,000 scientists across the world are studying C. elegans as a model, and their collective work is contributing to new knowledge about the process of aging and the growth of cancer. Professor Brenner's work has led to a global industry related to the worm.

In 1960 Professor Professor Brenner discovered messenger RNA (a link between DNA and the ribosomes in which proteins are synthesized). For these discoveries in 1971, Brenner received the Lasker Award, sometimes referred to as "America's Nobels," in Basic Medical Research.

Professor Brenner has commented that he is still "at the age of 76, excited by scientific research and the prospect of what can be done in biology."

Dundee-born Dr Christoper Lipinski is the author of the groundbreaking "Rule of Five" that has revolutionised the drug discovery process worldwide.

Since its publication in 1997, the Lipinski Rule of Five - a simple algorithm that helps identify successful drug candidates - has been a critical filter for drug development programs.

Dr Lipinski was recently recognised by the American Chemical Society with the award of their prestigious E. B. Hershberg Award for Important Discoveries in Medicinally Active Substances.

Dr Lipinski is a member of the TB Alliance Scientific Advisory Committee and a retired Senior Research Fellow with the phamaceutical company Pfizer. Over the course of his distinguished career he has authored over 190 publications and invited presentations, and has issued 17 US patents.

*** Photo opportunity 1.30 pm, Robing Room, City Chambers, Dundee. Opportunity to photograph Dr Sheena Wellington.
2 pm. Graduation ceremony for the School of Nursing.

The University will confer an honorary degree upon Dr Sheena Wellington

Born in Dundee to a family of singers and weavers Sheena Wellington is one of Scotland’s leading singer/songwriters. Her acclaimed career began at the precociously early age of two when she made her first stage appearance at a singing competition.

She is perhaps best known for her powerful rendition of Burns’ "A Man’s A Man For ‘A That" at the opening ceremony of the first Scottish Parliament for almost three hundred years in July 1999. Her moving performance was hailed by many as the highlight of an historic day.

She is also a passionate and articulate campaigner for traditional Scottish music and has played a significant role in the fight for greater recognition and funding for Scottish arts and culture.

Sheena Wellington has fulfilled a range of arts and culture posts within Scotland including as a member of the Scottish Parliament’s Culture Commission, the Scottish Arts Council Music Committee and the SAC’s Arts Education Forum.

The Graduation ceremonies for the School of Medicine and the School of Dentistry will take place at the Caird Hall on Tuesday 11th July at 2 pm, when honorary degrees will be conferred upon Mrs Sybill Storz, Mr Andrew Thomson and Dr Catherine Hamlin.

For more information contact:

Hilary McNally
Press Office
University of Dundee
Nethergate Dundee, DD1 4HN
TEL: 01382 384768
E-MAIL: h.mcnally@dundee.ac.uk