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Honorary Degrees Announced for Simon Mayo and Anne Fine

The University of Warwick has announced today, Tuesday 5th April 2005, that award winning novelist Anne Fine and Radio 5's Simon Mayo are among the eight people to be awarded honorary degrees by the University of Warwick at its Degree Ceremonies in July. The times and details for interview and photo opportunities on the day of ceremonies will be issued nearer the time but short biographies of all three honorary graduands now follows:


Professor Sir George Alberti Hon DSc (Doctor of Science) As the Government's National Director for Emergency Access, Professor Sir George Alberti is responsible for overseeing the implementation of the Reforming Emergency Care strategy. Sir George's work aims to help organisations rethink and improve the way access to emergency care is delivered. He has worked closely with University of Warwick's Emergency Care Group in Warwick Medical School.

Professor Sir George Alberti was President of the Royal College of Physicians London (PRCP) until July 2002. He is a Professor of Medicine at the University of Newcastle and he is an Honorary Professor of Metabolic Medicine at Imperial College. As PRCP he was in close contact with the Government and the Department of Health, providing advice and feedback from a medical viewpoint to ensure the highest standards of patient care in the implementation of new developments in the NHS. He was co-chairman of the first of the national service frameworks (NSFs) on coronary heart disease. He is a member of the Modernisation Board and the Council of the Academy of Medical Sciences. From 2000 to 2003 he was also President of the International Diabetes Federation.


Marlon Devonish Hon MA (Master of Arts) - Coventry Godiva Harriers athletics club share a running track with the University of Warwick and now we also share Coventry Godiva Harriers member Marlon Devonish. An outstanding athlete from the very start of his career when he won both the 100 and 200 metres English Schools and European Junior titles. His most famous achievement to his career to date was at the 2004 Summer Athens Olympics when he won a gold medal in the 4 x 100 meters relay. His many other sporting achievements include the following medals : 1995 European Junior Championships 100m and 200m gold, 1998 Commonwealth Games - Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 4 x 100m relay gold, 1999 European Cup 4 x 100m relay gold, 2002, Commonwealth Games - Manchester, England 4 x 100m relay gold, 2002 European Championships 4 x 100m relay gold, and in 2003 World Indoor Championship 200m gold.


Anne Fine Hon DLitt (Doctor of Letters) Award winning authour and Warwick graduate Anne Fine is perhaps best known for her children's books of which she has written more than 50. She also writes for adults (six books to date). She was appointed the second Children's Laureate, in succession to Quentin Blake, holding the position from 2001 to 2003. Her books for older children include the award winning The Tulip Touch and Goggle-Eyes, which was adapted for television by the BBC. Twentieth Century Fox filmed her novel Alias Madame Doubtfire as Mrs Doubtfire, starring Robin Williams. Her books for younger children include Bill's New Frock and How to Write Really Badly. Her work has been translated into twenty-five languages. She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and received an OBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours list in 2003. Her many other awards include several Carnegie Medals, two Boston Globe Horn Book Awards, the Whitbread Children's Book Award in both 1996 and 1993, the Nasen Special Educational Needs Book Award 1996, the Prix Sorciere 1998, and the British Book Awards Children's Author of the Year Award 1993 and 1990.

Professor John Forty Hon DSc (Doctor of Science) - The University of Warwick is currently celebrating its fortieth year so it is particularly appropriate to honour the founder of the University's Department of Physics - Professor John Forty, who first joined Warwick in its foundation year 1964. He played a key role as the founding Professor of Physics in what is now one of UK's leading Physics Departments with maximum teaching quality score, and one of the highest possible gradings for research (grade 5A). Without John Forty's foresight none of this would have happened. He left Warwick in 1986 to become Principal of Stirling University, a post he held until his retirement in 1994. He has served on the committees of many key higher education funding bodies including the then Science Research Council (SRC) and what was the Universities Grants Committee (UGC). He chaired the UGC working party on Advanced Research computing producing what came to be known as the "Forty" report. For all his public service to science he received the CBE in 1991.

Simon Mayo Hon DLitt (Doctor of Letters) BBC Radio 5 Presenter Simon Mayo is already a Warwick graduate (graduating with a degree in History and Politics). He was a star performer on the University's student radio station then known as radio W963 - however he is believed to have made his first radio programme at the age of eight using a family tape recorder. He worked at local Radio Nottingham for 4 years before joining BBC Radio 1 in March 1986, with a two hour Saturday evening show. In early 1987, he took over the weekday evening show and he moved to a mid-morning slot in October 1993. Simon's "Pilgrimage To The Holy Land" won Best Programme Award at the International Radio Festival of New York in 1987. Simon has fronted a number of documentaries for Radio 1, including "John Lennon: In My Life" and co-produced as well as presented a magazine series on religion entitled "The Big Holy One". He left Radio 1 for Radio 5 in 2001 He has won many awards, including the Variety Club BBC Radio Personality of the Year for 1990 and Sony National DJ of the Year in 1991.

Alan Phillips Hon LLD (Doctor of Laws)- Alan Philips is a renowned authority on human and minority rights. Following an earlier career as General Secretary of the World University Service he took his first appointment in the human rights related matters when he became Deputy Director of the of the British Refugee Council in 1982 - serving in that role till 1989. He has served as the UK Expert on the Council of Europe treaty monitoring mechanism and the Vice President of the Advisory Committee for the Framework convention on protection of national minorities. He has also served as a human rights/ minority rights adviser for several other inter-governmental and non-governmental organisations including Adviser on the Roma to the EU and Council of Europe in 2003, the committee of the Council for Assisting Refugee Academics and Executive Director of Minority Rights Group International. He is a Warwick graduate graduating with a degree in Physics in 1968. He also served as President of Warwick Students' Union in 1968-69. His publications include British Aid for Overseas Students 1980, UN minority Rights Declaration 1993, and Universal Minority Rights 1995, he was also a contributor to the 1997 World Directory of Minorities.

Sheila Whitaker Hon LLD (Doctor of Laws) - She came to Warwick as a mature student in the mid seventies, to read for a degree in Italian. Before Warwick she had worked for a number of years in the British Film Archive and she returned to work in film distribution. She ran the Tyneside cinematheque film festival for a number of years and began there a programme of offering access to recent work in world cinema, with particular reference to women directors. She went on to become the director of programming at the National Film Theatre (1984-1990) and also the director of one of the world's largest film festivals, the London Film Festival (1987-96). She has always had a close relationship with researchers at the University of Warwick - collaborating in particular on Latin American cinema, organising a number of such film seasons at the NFT. She has co edited a book with Warwick's Professor John King on the Argentine filmmaker Maria Luisa Bemberg. Her work with Bemberg and her friendship with Julie Christie led Julie Christie to make a film directed by Bemberg in Argentina immediately after the Falklands war. She has become increasingly interested in Middle Eastern cinema in the last years and, since retiring from the NFT she has edited a book on Iranian cinema and is currently organising the Dubai international film festival.

Rhys Williams Hon DSc (Doctor of Science) Rhys Williams served as a Pro-Chancellor of the University of Warwick and also served as Chair of University Council (1991-2002). He was a highly respected and effective Chair of Council and his period of service covered the term of office of three University of Warwick Vice-Chancellors- a period of significant growth and outstanding success for the University. Following National Service in the Fleet Air Arm he joined what was then English Electric as a Graduate Apprentice assigned to Marconi. He rose quickly and served that company in England, Canada and South Africa and in 1982 was posted to Coventry as head of GEC's telecommunication's business. After a short period in the venture capital industry he returned to GEC as Chair of Marconi. He retired from GEC Marconi in 1993.

For further information please contact:

Peter Dunn, Press and Media Relations Manager
University of Warwick Tel: 024 76 523708 or
07767 655860
p.j.dunn@warwick.ac.uk

PR24  6th April  2005