Durham University honours leading national and international figures

Durham University honours leading national and international figures. Durham University will next week (June 26-29) honour several successful national and international figures in media, business, politics and the arts as part of its Summer Congregation celebrations. Durham's new Chancellor, world-renowned opera singer Sir Thomas Allen, will present honorary degrees to prominent figures in their fields who are former Durham students or have close links with the University. Durham University graduate Jeremy Vine, currently a presenter on BBC Radio 2, will receive an honorary Doctor of Civil Law degree, while fellow Durham graduate Biddy Baxter, who helped transform BBC children's TV programme Blue Peter into a national institution, will be awarded an honorary Doctor of Letters. Two other Durham graduates, Brent Cheshire, a leading figure in the UK Energy Industry, and Charles Wilson, a prominent businessman who has helped revive the fortunes of Marks & Spencer and Booker Ltd, will be awarded an honorary Doctor of Science and an honorary Doctor of Civil Law respectively. Irina Bokova, the Director-General of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation, will also be awarded an honorary Doctor of Letters, while John Rutter, a national figure in choral music who first came to notice as a composer and arranger of Christmas carols, will be awarded an honorary Doctor of Music. An honorary Master of Science will also go to former Sunderland builder Gary Fildes, whose passion for astronomy led to the development of the Kielder Observatory in Northumberland where he is now Director.