Honorary Graduates

Each year, the University makes a number of honorary awards that recognise outstanding service to the University, to the City of Birmingham and the West Midlands, or to public or professional life nationally and internationally.

Here we take a look at our Honorary Graduates past and present, across a wide range of professional fields and industries.

Honorary graduates - January 2020

Asha Devi

Asha Devi has over 28 years of experience in the construction industry, responsible for the development of many Birmingham projects.

Dr Joanne Fillingham

Dr Joanne Fillingham has worked in clinical and leadership roles, across primary, community and secondary care settings.

John Clemson MBE

John was awarded an Honorary Fellowship of the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire in June 2007, and an MBE in the New Year Honours List 2016.

Ruth Cooke

Ruth Cooke has worked mostly in and with housing associations, Ruth is passionate about the importance of housing and support services.

Full list of honorary graduates

Please see below for the complete list of our honorary graduates.

A

Lord Adebowale CBE

Mr Mohinder Singh Ahluwalia OBE

Mr Jamil Ahmed

Mr Murugappa A Alagappan

Dr Alberto Alessi

Professor Louis Andriessen

Professor Dame Elizabeth Anionwu DBE

Sir David Arculus

B

Ms Veena Bahl

Miss Ellie Baker

Honorary Alderman Stan Banting MBE JP

Mr Paul Bassi CBE DL

Mrs Sue Battle CBE

Mr Michael Beasley CBE

Mr Trevor Beattie

Mr David Belser

Ms Sallie Bennett-Jenkins QC

Ms Anita Bhalla OBE DL

Mr David Bintley CBE

Mr Paul Birch JP

Sir Harrison Birtwistle

Mr Peter Blakemore

Ms Cynthia Bower

Dame Christine Braddock DBE DL

Mr Keith Bradshaw DL

Lord Bragg of Wigton CH

Ms Jo Brand

Councillor Randal Brew OBE

Professor Sir Tim Brighouse

Mr Stephen B Bright

Mr Mark Britnell

Dr J Louise Brooke-Smith

Mrs Elisabeth Buggins CBE DL

Mr Ian Burke

Mr Patrick Burns

The Rt Hon Baroness Butler-Sloss GBE

Sir Ian Byatt

C

Mr Pogus Caesar

Mr Ian Callum

Mr David Carter CBE

Mr Godwin Cassar

Mr John Caudwell

Mr Peter Cheese

Dr Goh Chong Chia

Mrs Deirdre Clancy

Mr Barry Cleverdon OBE

Mr Victor Cocker CBE

Mr Jonathan Coe

Mrs Naaz Coker

Mr Matthew Collings

Ms Carol Coombes OBE

Professor David Cox OBE

The Baroness Cox of Queensbury

Mr John Crabtree OBE DL

Professor Charles Craddock CBE

Mr Jim Crace

Mr David Cragg OBE

Professor Ian Cumming OBE

D

Mr William R P Dalton

Mr Nick Danziger

Mr Charles Darby

Mr John Davidson OBE

Mr Christopher Dedicoat

Mrs Sylvia Denman CBE

Mr Rasshied Din

Ms Molly Dineen

Mr Tom Dixon

Mr Peter Donohoe CBE

Mr Jonathan Duck

Ms Heather du Quesnay

E

Professor Brian Edwards

Mr Peter Ellwood CBE

The Rt Hon Baroness Emerton DBE DL

Mr Craig Errington

Sir Reginald Eyre

F

Mr Adrian Fawcett

Professor Brian Ferneyhough

Professor Steve Field CBE

Sir Ranulph Fiennes

Ms Anne Fine

Her Honour Judge Elisabeth Fisher JP

Mr Adam Fowle

The Rt Hon Lord Fowler

Dame Elizabeth Fradd

Sir Christopher Frayling

Mr David Frost CBE DL

G

Dr Anna van der Gaag CBE

Sir James Galway

Mr Tony Garnett

Mr Karl George MBE

Dr John Gibbons CBE

The Lord Glendonbrook CBE

Professor Heiner Goebbels

Dr Mark Goldman

Mr Antony Gormley

The Baroness Gould of Potternewton

Mr Chris Green

Professor Edward Gregson

Professor Brian Griffin

Lord Grocott of Telford

Ms Bunny Guinness

H

Lord Hall of Birkenhead CBE

Professor Simon Halsey CBE

Rt Hon the Lord Hattersley

Mr Peter Hay CBE

Mr Cal Henderson

Mr Darren Henley OBE

The Rt Hon the Lord Heseltine CH

Mr Andrew Higginson

Mr Peter Hindle MBE

Mr Dave Holland

Mr Albert Hong Hin Kay

Mr Elgar Howarth

Mr Kevin Howe

Mr Rob Howell

Mr John Hudson OBE DL

Mr Robert Hughes CBE

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath OBE

Mr William Hutton

Mr Tony Hyde

Mr David Hyslop OBE

I

Mr Jonathan Irwin

Ms Nola Ishmael OBE

J

Mr Fred Jarvis

Sir Simon Jenkins

Mr Peter Jenkinson OBE

Mr David Jessel

Professor Gus John

Mr Karl Johnson

Mr Alan Jones OBE

Lord Jones of Birmingham

Lord Jordan CBE

Mr Leng Jun

K

Mr Paul Kehoe CBE

Ms Bridget Kendall

Dr Christine Kenrick

Mr Javed Khan

Dr Gillian Klein

Dr Peter Knight CBE DL

Mr Steven Knight

L

Mr Martin Lamb

Lang Lang

Mr Patrick le Quement

Ms Deborah Leary OBE

Mr John Leighfield CBE

Ms Beverly Lindsay OBE OD

Ms Tasmin Little OBE

Dr Ding Yih Liu

Mr Xiao Liu

Mrs Pamela Liversidge

Mr David Lowe

Mr Jeff Lynne

Sir Michael Lyons

M

Ms Sarah-Jane Marsh

Dato’Nik Mohamed Mahmood

Mr John Mahoney

Dr Beverly Malone

Ms Patricia Marsh

Mr John Mathers

Mr Jim McCarthy

Mr Paul McDowell

Mr William McGrath

The Rt Rev’d Monsignor Canon J Daniel McHugh

Sir Graham Meldrum CBE OStJ

The Honourable Dennis Merchant

Mr Richard Meredith-Hardy

Mr Andrew Messenger

Mr Frank Mills

Professor Dhruva Mistry CBE

Dame Julie Moore DBE

Dame Yvonne Moores

Dr Joan Sinclair More

Dr William S More

Mr Charles Morgan

Sir Michael Morpurgo OBE

Mr David Mumford

Ms Laura Mvula

N

Cardinal Vincent Nichols

Mr David Nicholson CBE

Mr Richard Noble

Sir Gulam Noon MBE

O

Ms Erin O’Connor MBE

Mr Bruce Oldfield

Brigadier Ramis bin Juma’an bin Sibti Al Oweira

Mr Sakari Oramo OBE

Mr David Owen

P

Mr T R Pachamuthu

Ms Susan Parke

Mr Kirit Pathak OBE

PC Robert Pedley MBE

Baron Paul of Marylebone in the City of Westminster

Ms Rachel Pierce

Professor Andrew Pollard

Mr Jonathon Porritt OM CBE

Ms Jennie Price CBE

Mr Roger Pringle

Mr Philip Pullman CBE

R

Sir Simon Rattle OM CBE

Mr Adil Ray OBE

Ms Piali Ray OBE

Ms Karin Rehnqvist

Mr Roy Richardson

Ms Yana Richens OBE

Sir Peter Rigby DL

Dame Janet Ritterman DBE

Sir Ken Robinson

Rt Hon the Lord Rooker

S

Mr Paul Sabapathy CBE

Mr Saleh Saeed OBE

Mr Jeremy Sams

The Right Reverend Mark Santer

Dr Benedetto Saraceno

Sir Nicholas Scheele

Mr Mark Selway

The Most Rev’d & Rt Hon Dr John Sentamu

Councillor Shafique Shah

Professor Surinder Sharma

Mr Stephen Shaw

Mr Jon Silverman

Mr Brian Sims

Mr Frank Skinner

Professor Jennifer Sleep

Sir Tim Smit

Mr Alan Smith

Mr Phil Smith

Mr Roger Smith OBE

Mr Ranjit Sondhi CBE

Rear Admiral Christopher Stanford CB OStJ

Mr Alex Stephenson CBE

Sir Christopher Stone

Mr Bryan Stoten

Mr Andy Street CBE

The Rt Revd John Stroyan

Ms Gisela Stuart MP

Mr Brian Summers MBE

Mr Christopher Swan

T

Professor Laurie Taylor

Mr Peter Taylor

Mr Rex Tedd QC

Mr Nigel Terrington

Mr Rasik Thakrar

Mr Paul Thandi

Ms Sarah Thane CBE

Mr Geoff Thomas

Sir Mike Tomlinson CBE

Sir John Tooley

Mr John Towers

Mr Thomas Trotter

Sir Mark Tully

Mr Julian Turner

Ms Sue Turner

Mr Jonnie Turpie MBE DL

U-V

Ms Jenny Uglow OBE

The Rt Revd David Urquhart

Mr Graham Vick CBE

W

Mr Derek Waddington OBE JP

Mr Mark Wallinger

Dame Julie Walters DBE

Mr Gok Wan

Mr John Warburton CBE

Mr Bob Warman

Th Rt Hon. the Baroness Warsi

Mr Jonathan Watkins

Dr Neslyn Watson-Druée CBE

Dr Timothy Watts DL

Ms Gillian Wearing CBE

Ms Jeanette Webber

Bishop Derek Webley MBE DL

Dame Gillian Weir DBE

Ms Judith Weir CBE

Mr Brett Wigdortz OBE

Mr Clive Wilkinson

Ms Toyah Willcox

Mr Anthony Wilson

Ms Dorothy Wilson

Mr James Wilson

Professor Sir David Winkley

Professor Robert Winston

Ms Anne Wood CBE

Mr John Woodward OBE

Mr Barry Wordsworth

Mr Kuldip Singh Wouhra MBE

Mr Doug Wright DL

Y-Z

Ms Salma Yaqoob

Mr W Wing Yip OBE

Mr Benjamin Zephaniah

Sir Bernard Zissman

Honorary Award nomination form

We welcome nominations for honorary degrees from any member of staff, students, members of the Board of Governors, and the general public. As part of our equality and diversity mission, we particularly welcome nominations for candidates from backgrounds or groups who are currently under-represented in civil life. Awards are made without bias in relation to gender, race, religion, disability, or sexual orientation.

About honorary degrees

Honorary degrees are conferred at our award ceremonies in January and July, where we celebrate the achievements of our recent graduates and formally confer their degrees. Honorary award holders provide positive role models whose achievements we hope our graduates will be keen to emulate in their own careers.

Conferment of honorary awards can both recognise an existing relationship between the individual and the University, or signal the potential for a future relationship.

The University is also particularly keen to honour individuals who have rendered services to the University and/or local community, culturally, socially or economically, and particularly those who have made a voluntary contribution to the City of Birmingham or the surrounding region.

Please read the criteria below before completing the Nomination Form. Eligible nominations will be copied to members of the Honorary Awards Committee, which is responsible to the Board of Governors and to Academic Board for decisions on honorary awards.

Nominations must be submitted via the Nomination Form in order for the Honorary Awards Committee to receive and consider nominations consistently.

Please note that all sections of the form must be completed by the Proposer to be eligible for consideration. No further due diligence will be undertaken and the decision of the Committee will be based solely upon the information provided within the form.

Proposals must remain strictly confidential and the Nominee must not be notified.

Criteria

Honorary Doctorates of the University are conferred in accordance with the following criteria:

1. Candidates should have a demonstrable track record of at least one of the following: outstanding contributions to public or professional life nationally/internationally, and who command national/international recognition in their field; distinguished service to the City of Birmingham or its locality; outstanding contribution to the work or interests of the University, particularly in a voluntary capacity;

2. Current staff, students and governors of the University are not eligible for nomination;

3. Candidates should not normally be serving politicians;

4. Candidates should not normally be former members of University staff, nor current staff of its academic partner institutions. Where such individuals are honoured, this will be on the grounds of achievements made outside of their association with the University;

5. An individual may not nominate themselves for an honorary degree, nor submit a nomination for a member of their own family.

Download the nomination form

Please send completed Nomination Forms via email to: heather.brannan@bcu.ac.uk

Heather Brannan, Honorary Awards Committee Secretary (+44 (0) 121 331 6599)

Honorary Fellowships: Royal Birmingham Conservatoire

The Royal Birmingham Conservatoire have a long and established tradition of awarding Honorary Fellowships.

Should you have any queries in relation to these awards, please contact:

Professor Julian Lloyd Webber – Principal, Birmingham Conservatoire Tel. No. 0121 331 5910