St Andrews to honour David Attenborough

Renowned naturalist Sir David Attenborough is to be awarded an honorary degree by the University of St Andrews next month (Wednesday 22 June).

The veteran broadcaster will be made a Doctor of Science by the University during its summer graduations (21-25 June 2011).

Joining Sir David in the honours will be Olympic rower Sir Steve Redgrave, who will be made a Doctor of Laws.

Eight ceremonies over four days in the summer will see twelve distinguished individuals from the worlds of academia, law, literature, sport and business honoured.  Scots poet, translator and travel writer Alastair Reid will return to St Andrews to collect his second degree – he first graduated from the University in 1949 as an MA in English-Philosophy.

Among the other honorary degree recipients are Nobel Prize winner Christiane Nüsslein-Volhard and founder and Chairman of The Sutton Trust, Sir Peter Lampl.  St Andrews is one of four universities in the UK and the only one in Scotland that supports the Sutton Trust access programme for students from non-traditional university backgrounds.

A number of additional events will take place during graduation week this year as part of the University’s 600th Anniversary celebrations. These include public lectures by two of the honorands, Sir David Attenborough (Tuesday 21 June) and Richard Goldstone (Wednesday 22 June) and a Graduation concert in the University Chapel (Thursday 23 June). Further information on these events will be published nearer the time.

The full list of honorary degree recipients is:

Tuesday 21 June – 10.30am

• Peter van Inwagen – Hon DD
  John Cardinal O’Hara Professor of Philosophy, University of Notre Dame

Tuesday 21 June – 2.00pm

• Stanley Hoffmann – Hon DLitt
  Paul and Catherine Buttenwieser University Professor, Harvard University
• Richard Goldstone – Hon LLD
  Former judge of the Constitutional Court of South Africa and former UN Prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda

Wednesday 22 June – 10.30am

• David Attenborough – Hon DSc
  Broadcaster and Naturalist
• Christiane Nüsslein-Volhard – Hon DSc
  Director at the Max Planck Institute of Developmental Biology, Tübingen winner of the Nobel Prize for Medicine or Physiology in 1995

Wednesday 22 June – 2.00pm

• Steve Redgrave – Hon LLD
  Former British Olympic rower and founder of the Steve Redgrave Fund

Thursday 23 June – 10.30am

• Alastair Reid – Hon DLitt
  Poet, translator and travel writer
• Les Murray – Hon DLitt
  Australian Poet

Thursday 23 June – 2.00pm

• Stephanie Shirley – Hon LLD
  Businesswoman (founder and former CEO of the software company Xansa) and philanthropist (The Shirley Foundation)

Friday 24  June – 10.30am

• Tony Cheetham – Hon DSc
  Goldsmiths’ Professor of Materials Science, University of Cambridge
• James Best – Hon MD
  Head of School of Medicine, University of Melbourne and Director of the Centre for Clinical Research Excellence in Diabetes, University of Melbourne

Friday 24 June – 2.00pm

• Peter Lampl – Hon DSc
  Founder and Chairman of The Sutton Trust

Ends

Note to Editors

A MEDIA INVITATION TO ATTEND PHOTO OPPORTUNITES DURING THE EVENTS WILL BE RELEASED NEARER THE TIME.

Issued by the Press Office, University of St Andrews

Contact Gayle Cook, Senior Communications Manager on 01334 467227 / 462529, mobile 07900 050 103, or email [email protected]

Ref:  Honoraries 200511

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