16 January 2007

A Dundee Celebration - Caird Hall, February 9th, 2007

The University of Dundee will begin a year of events to mark its 40th anniversary with "A Dundee Celebration", a special ceremony recognising the key links formed with the city and honouring some of its key figures.

The event in the Caird Hall on February 9th marks four decades of partnership between the city and the University. It will see degrees bestowed upon some of the people who have shown Dundee at its best in sport, academia, science, civic duty and the arts.

Those receiving honorary degrees are Liz McColgan, Lord Provost John Letford, Michael Marra, Baroness Clark of Calton, Bishop Vincent Logan, Professor Sir Philip Cohen, Russell Reid and Norman Robertson.

"It is entirely appropriate that a year of celebrating the University’s 40th anniversary should begin with an event that highlights the close and growing relationship between the city and the University," said Sir Alan Langlands, Principal and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Dundee.

"We enjoy an excellent relationship with the city and its people, and the 40th anniversary is a chance to celebrate that.

"I am delighted that we are also able to honour a group of people whose achievements have brought recognition to the city from all corners of the globe and who have all contributed greatly to the life of Dundee. I hope many of the people of Dundee will join us in celebration on February 9th."

The event, which will feature a performance from the Dundee Rep Women's Choir "Loadsaweeminsingin", is open to the public and tickets are available from the City Square Booking Office, the reception desk at the University tower building on Nethergate, or by e-mailing events@dundee.ac.uk

The event takes place at 4 pm on February 9th.

NOTES TO EDITORS

The ceremony of February 9th will see honorary degrees bestowed on the following people:

LIZ McCOLGAN MBE
One of the world’s great distance runners, Liz McColgan’s talent as an athlete saw her run all the way from the streets of Dundee to the world’s greatest stadiums. Her greatest triumphs came at the World Championships in Tokyo in 1991, when she won 10,000 metres gold, and in the London Marathon of 1996.

She also won an Olympic Silver Medal in Seoul in 1988, took home gold from the Commonwealth Games in 1986 and won the inaugural World Half Marathon Championship in 1992. She was also voted BBC Sports Personality of the Year in 1991.

Liz now coaches young athletes in Dundee and has established a series of fitness centres across Tayside. She is a supporter of the University’s current Diabetes Research Campaign, which aims to raise £3.3 million to develop clinical research facilities in Dundee, Perth and Forfar.

PROFESSOR SIR PHILIP COHEN
Professor Sir Philip Cohen is one of the most important scientists working in the UK higher education sector today. He has been the key influence in developing the College of Life Sciences in Dundee from a converted stable block with 11 scientists to a complex housing almost 800 staff from 53 countries.

Sir Philip’s contribution has been the outstanding catalyst for the economic regeneration of Dundee into one of the fastest growing biotech clusters in the UK today. Sir Philip has developed and facilitated one of the largest research consortia in higher education - a £23m deal with six of the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies which was awarded the Queen’s Anniversary Award in 2006. He has developed a strategy for attracting some of the best scientists to Dundee (more than 1% of the world’s most cited scientists in their field are located in Dundee) and has been instrumental in raising more than £35m over the past 10 years to ensure that world-class facilities and scientists are the norm in Dundee. He has been instrumental in attracting a range of biotech and pharmaceutical companies to site their headquarters in Dundee resulting in more than 15% of the local economy now being derived from life sciences.

Sir Philip has demonstrated his personal commitment to the development of SLS in numerous ways - from fundraising outside Tayside Tesco’s on a Saturday morning, engaging with the Dundee local population, to donating significant personal financial contributions to the fundraising appeal. But more than anything else, the significance of Sir Philip’s scientific achievements have helped Dundee become the renaissance city of science and discovery.

LYNDA CLARK, BARONESS CLARK OF CALTON
Lynda Clark, Baroness Clark of Calton, QC was Advocate General for Scotland from the creation of that position in 1999 until 2006, whereupon she became a Judge of the Court of Session in Scotland.

She was formerly the Labour Member of Parliament for Edinburgh Pentlands, having won the seat in the 1997 election, displacing Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, Malcolm Rifkind. She stood down at the 2005 election.

Before entering politics, she studied law at the University of Dundee and subsequently gained a PhD from the University of Edinburgh in 1975. She was a lecturer in Jurisprudence from 1973 at the University of Dundee until she was called to the Scottish Bar in 1977. She took silk in 1989, and was subsequently called to the English Bar in 1990.

In May 2005 it was announced that she would be created a life peer, and on 21 June 2005 the title was gazetted as Baroness Clark of Calton, of Calton in the City of Edinburgh. In January 2006 Baroness Clark resigned as Advocate General to take up office as a Senator of the College of Justice.

JOHN LETFORD
John Letford has been Lord Provost of Dundee for the past six years, following a long and distinguishd service as a councillor on both Dundee City Council and before it Tayside Regional Council.

He continues to serve several committees with interests in sports, theatre, education, local services and disabled associations.

John’s life has been marked by dedicated service to young people and their well being. His involvement in sport, in training and through his roles as a Councillor and as Lord Provost, where he has sought to greatly elevate the role of youth groups and young people in ceremonial and civic functions, all display his deep seated affection for the young people of our city. He has been a member of the University Court. He has also led on many issues of economic development, has chaired the City of Discovery Campaign and has played a prominent ambassadorial role for the city and people of Dundee.

RUSSELL REID
A former editor of The Sunday Post and past chairman of the Scottish Daily Newspaper Editors’ Committee, Russell Reid has been an influential opinion former in Scotland for many years.

Born in Dundee, he was educated in the city and on leaving school he took classes at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and considered becoming a full- time art student before opting for journalism. He joined DC Thomson and Co Ltd as a general reporter in 1953, working principally for The Courier, Evening Telegraph and The Peoples Journal. After National Service with the RAF, he returned to journalism in 1956 and in 1957 he joined the features staff of The Sunday Post, becoming deputy editor in 1983 and editor in 1989.

He has been a staunch supporter of the University of Dundee over many years, taking a keen interest in university affairs, and an extremely active part in the university’s music scene which he has done a great deal to support for well over 20 years. He is Patron of Dundee University Music Society and Honorary Vice President of Dundee University Operatic Society.

MICHAEL MARRA
Deservedly described as "Indisputably the finest song-writer in Scotland", Michael Marra is one of Dundee’s favourite sons, as his rare but always packed to the rafters concerts attest.

Born in the Lochee area of the city, he was expelled from school at 14 as a general trouble maker, a trait that did not endear him to music industry figures who tried to give commercial harness to his song-writing genius.

His recording career - a mere handful of albums over more than 30 years in music - barely scratches the surface of his work and influence. As well as his own records, he was a key figure in the development of the the acclaimed Dundee community productions "Witches Blood" and "They Fairly Make Ye Work", while his music for the "Mill Lavvies" Rep production captured the heart of the Dundee of his youth and will stand as testament to the culture of the mill workers into which his family and so much of Dundee was born.

Michael continues to write and tour, often working with such figures as Eddi Reader, Liz Lochhead and John Byrne. His contribution to Dundee’s cultural life over the past four decades cannot be overstated.

NORMAN ROBERTSON
Nominally a solicitor with city firm Blackadders and an honorary sheriff, Norman Robertson’s contributions to the life of Dundee run far beyond the work done in legal chambers.

Dundee’s Citizen of the Year for 2003, he has carried out sterling work in the community with voluntary and charitable groups over many years.

Among the long list of organisations with which he has been involved are the Whitehall Theatre Trust, Downfield Musical Society, Dundee Age Concern and the medical fundraising charity Tenovus.

He has also chaired the Dundee/Alexandria Twinning Association, is a member of the Dundee Highland Society, and of the reformed Morgan Academy Former Pupils’ Association and an elder of Stobswell Church.

Rt Rev VINCENT LOGAN, BISHOP OF DUNKELD
On the occasion of his Silver Jubilee as Bishop of Dunkeld last year, tributes flooded in to the Rt Rev Vincent Logan, who was hailed as a "great ambassador for the Catholic Church and for Dundee", and a motion was tabled at the House of Commons recognising the contribution he has made to the local community.

At the time of his appointment in 1981 he was Scotland’s youngest Bishop. In the years since he has shown that it was a shrewd appointment by the Church, becoming a much respected and loved figure in the city and beyond.

In leading the tributes last year, Lord Provost John Letford noted that Bishop Logan "has always shown concern, not just for his own community, but for all Dundee’s citizens".

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