18 June 2007
Graduation 2007
Thousands of successful students will feel the tap of the Dundee bonnet this week as the University of Dundee hosts its graduation ceremonies in the Caird Hall.
Five graduation ceremonies will take place this week, a time of great celebration for students and their families. Over 4000 students will graduate with degrees, post graduate diplomas and diplomas.
The traditional Dundee bonnet - spun, woven, dyed and embroidered for the University by the Dundee Bonnetmakers Craft - is used by the Chancellor, Lord Patel of Dunkeld, to symbolically confer degrees on graduates.
This year marks the 40th anniversary of the University and celebrations surrounding the occasion will add to the general buzz that fills the city centre at graduation time.
"We are always delighted to welcome so many of our students and their families here for graduation, which is a milestone occasion for all involved," said Sir Alan Langlands, Principal of the University.
"This year we have also welcomed back many of our alumni for a special Homecoming weekend, and this week we host the first Dundee Literary Festival, so the campus and the city will be buzzing with activity."
The graduation ceremonies begin on Wednesday afternoon and carry on through Thursday and Friday. Graduation garden parties are being staged each day in a specially constructed area to the north of the Dundee University Students’ Association building in Airlie Place, from 4 pm to 6 pm.
Honorary degrees will be conferred on distinguished guests of the University - Margaret Catley-Carlson, Carol Ann Duffy, Philip Pullman, Gerald Scarfe, Georges Henry Erasmus, Ettore Sottsass, Thomas Heatherwick, Professor Sir Tom Blundell, Professor Piet Borst, Dr Joyce Thompson, and Jacqueline Wilson.
A further graduation for the School of Medicine takes place on July 10th.
NOTES TO EDITORS
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:
WEDNESDAY JUNE 20TH
*** Photo opportunity 1.30 pm, Robing Room, City Chambers, with Margaret Catley-Carlson
2 pm. Graduation ceremony for the College of Arts & Social Sciences (Schools of Accountancy & Business Finance; Law; Education, Social Work & Community Education; Postgraduate Management & Policy)
Margaret Catley-Carlson is the chairperson of the Global Water Partnership, a water-management partnership established in 1996 by the World Bank, the United Nations Development Program and the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency.
THURSDAY JUNE 21ST
*** Photo opportunity 9.30 am, Robing Room, City Chambers, with Philip Pullman and Carol Ann Duffy
10 am. Graduation ceremony for the College of Arts & Social Sciences (Schools of Humanities; Psychology; Social Sciences)
Philip Pullman is one of the world’s best known writers. His trilogy ‘His Dark Materials’ brought him worldwide acclaim and is set to become one of the major cinematic events of the next few years with the first film instalment due for release later in 2007. The novels manage to bridge the gap between adult and children’s fiction and have been honoured by several prizes including the Carnegie Medal, the Guardian Children’s Book Award and (for The Amber Spyglass) the Whitbread Book of the Year Award.
Carol Ann Duffy OBE is an acclaimed poet, playwright and freelance writer. Her poetry includes Standing Female Nude (1985), winner of a Scottish Arts Council award; Selling Manhattan, which won a Somerset Maugham Award; The Other Country; Mean Time, which won the Whitbread Poetry Award and the Forward Poetry Prize; and the World’s Wife. Her plays have been performed at the Liverpool Playhouse and the Almeida Theatre in London.
*** Photo opportunity 1.30 pm, Robing Room, City Chambers, with Gerald Scarfe, Georges Henry Erasmus and Thomas Heatherwick (Ettore Sottsass receiving his degree by proxy)
2 pm. Graduation ceremony for the College of Arts, Science & Engineering (Schools of Computing; Engineering & Physical Sciences; Duncan of Jordanstone College)
Gerald Scarfe is a cartoonist and illustrator whose early caricatures of public figures were published in satirical magazine Private Eye throughout the 1960s and 1970s. A set of animated short clips used on Pink Floyd’s ‘Wish you were here’ tour, including a full-length music video for the song ‘Welcome to the Machine’ are among his best known work.
Thomas Heatherwick is Director of the Heatherwick Studio in London which has made a reputation for its work in architecture, sculpture, urban infrastructure, product design, exhibition design and strategic thinking. He is a Royal Designer for Industry and a Senior Fellow of the Royal College of Art. Icon magazine has described him as the “UK’s brightest young designer”.
Georges Henry Erasmus has made a major contribution to the welfare and community of Canada’s Aboriginal people over the past thirty years. He has been an important figure in the Canadian First Nation leadership and was instrumental in guiding the Dene people of Canada’s Northwest Territories towards declaring their indigenous rights through ratifying the Dene Declaration.
Ettore Sottsass is an Italian architect and designer with a career spanning more than 65 years. He is the founder of Memphis, a Milan-based design collaborative that played a key part in postmodernism and has had a pioneering influence in the field of design including furniture, ceramics, glass, jewellery, architecture and industrial design.
FRIDAY JUNE 22ND
*** Photo opportunity 9.30 am, Robing Room, City Chambers, with Professor Sir Tom Blundell and Professor Piet Borst
10 am. Graduation ceremony for College of Life Sciences, School of Architecture, School of Dentistry.
Professor Sir Tom Blundell is one of the UK’s leading biochemists. He has been a scientific advisor to the government since the 1980s and his laboratory work, which involves identifying the chemical processes of diseases, has led to the development of drugs to treat AIDS, cancer, cataracts and diabetes.
Professor Piet Borst is an internationally distinguished biochemist and molecular biologist. His studies have been instrumental in mapping genes and understanding how mitochondrial DNA in yeast is used to make RNA. One of the most widely used methods in molecular biology today - agarose gel electrophoresis (a method used to separate DNA and RNA) - grew out of this research.
*** Photo opportunity 1.30 pm, Robing Room, City Chambers, with Jacqueline Wilson and Dr Joyce Thompson
2 pm. Graduation ceremony for School of Nursing & Midwifery.
Jacqueline Wilson is one of the best known children’s authors in the UK. In a BBC poll 14 of her books were voted among the top 200 in Britain, where she has sold more than 20 million copies. She is the Children’s Laureate and passionate about introducing as many children to reading as possible.
Dr Joyce Thompson is internationally lauded for her contribution to women’s health. She established and directed the first basic nurse-midwifery program in Pennsylvania and headed the Penn-Malawi "Women for Women’s Health" project from 1990-2002.
She is now Bernadine M. Lacey Professor of Community Health Nursing at Western Michigan University where she directs "Safe motherhood" efforts for WHO’s global network.
For media enquiries contact:
Roddy Isles
Head, Press Office
University of Dundee
Nethergate
Dundee, DD1 4HN
TEL: 01382 384910
E-MAIL: r.isles@dundee.ac.uk
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