AS May draws to a close, so does the latest chapter in the University of Chester’s springtime graduation ceremonies.

Thousands of students from the Faculties of Education and Children’s Services, Arts and Humanities, Business and Management, Science and Engineering, and Social Sciences will receive their degrees at Chester Cathedral this week.

This concludes the backlog of in-person events which were unable to take place during the pandemic.

Joining the soon-to-be graduates will be a rollcall of the great and good in industries spanning the worlds of television, music, motoring, photography, sport, and technology.

 

Tuesday, May 24
 

  • In Ceremony 2 Stephen Hough will receive an honorary Doctor of Music award.

Stephen Hough combines a distinguished career as a pianist with those of composer and writer.

He was the first classical performer to be awarded a MacArthur Fellowship and awarded a CBE in the New Year’s Honours 2014.

He was awarded Northwestern University’s 2008 Jean Gimbel Lane Prize in Piano, won the Royal Philharmonic Society (RPS) Instrumentalist Award in 2010, and in 2016 was made an Honorary Member of the RPS.
 

  • In Ceremony 3 Baroness Floella Benjamin DBE DL will receive a Doctor of Letters award.

For more than five decades, Baroness Benjamin has been involved in children’s television across the world and is best known for the iconic children’s programmes Playschool and Play Away.

As well as her stage film and television appearances, in 1987 she founded her own production company and produced hundreds of children’s programmes for major broadcasters, many of which were award winners.

Most recently, these include Mama Mirabelle’s Home Movies, Chuggington, Sarah Jane Adventures and she is a regular on CBeebies Bedtime Stories.

Since 1973, she has campaigned for diversity both in front and behind the camera and now advises the BBC and ITV on their diversity policies.

 

She said: “I left school at 16 and graduated from the University of Life, where I studied empathy and common sense with a mission to change the world for children, because childhood lasts a lifetime. So, I feel incredibly honoured to be receiving this Honorary Degree from the University of Chester.”

 

 

 

 

Wednesday, May 25

  • In Ceremony 4 Christine Gaskell CBE, DL will receive an honorary Doctor of Business Administration award.

Christine spent most of her career in the motor industry and from 1995 until 2012 she was a member of the board at Bentley Motors, with responsibility for over 4,000 employees worldwide. Under Christine, Bentley invested significantly in improving the skills and capability of its workforce, to regional and national acclaim.

Throughout her career she has been actively involved in promoting learning and skills and in 2012 she was awarded an MBE for services to training and apprenticeships. In January 2019, Christine was awarded a CBE for her services to Cheshire and Warrington.

From 2011-2020, she was the first Chair of the Cheshire and Warrington Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP). She was Chair of the 38-strong LEP Network, Vice-Chair of NP11 - the group of Northern LEPs - and sat on the LEP Review Committee. Christine was also a member of the Industrial Strategy Board, the Transport for the North Board and the Digital Skills Partnership Board. Christine holds a number of other non-executive roles and is also a Deputy Lieutenant of Cheshire.

  • In Ceremony 5 Lady Redmond MBE will receive an honorary Doctor of Letters award.

Lady Redmond MBE came into office as Lord-Lieutenant of Cheshire in August 2021. She is a chartered accountant and spent several years in the profession before establishing, with her husband Phil, also one of the University’s honorary graduates, one of the largest independent television drama production companies in the UK.

She has held many senior non-executive, governor and trustee positions including with National Museums Liverpool, Riverside Housing Association and Alder Hey Hospital NHS Children’s Charitable Trust. She continues to support many charitable and not for profit organisations.

She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and was awarded her MBE in 2011 for services to the community. Alexis held the office of High Sheriff of Cheshire during 2018/19.

In Ceremony 6 Susan Flood will receive an honorary Master of Science award.

Sue Flood is an award-winning photographer and filmmaker, author, zoologist, adventure travel leader and public speaker. Her work takes her all over the world, but she has a special passion for the wildlife and landscape of the Polar regions and is one of the very few women photographers who returns again and again to Earth’s harshest and most demanding environments.

Her first trips to the Poles came during her 11 years in the BBC’s Natural History Unit working on such globally acclaimed nature documentaries as The Blue Planet and Planet Earth with Sir David Attenborough.

Sue was born in North Wales, grew up in Hawarden and attended The Queen’s School, Chester. She lives with her husband Chris Graham near Bala in North Wales.

She said: “I’m thrilled, honoured and humbled to receive this honorary degree. When I was at school in Chester, I was greatly inspired by Sir David Attenborough to dream of a career as a wildlife filmmaker. Imagine my joy, then, when after pursuing my ambition by studying zoology, I landed a job working with Sir David on some of the BBC’s most acclaimed landmark series such as The Blue Planet and Planet Earth."

Friday, May 27
 

  • In Ceremony 9 Laura Deas will receive an honorary Master of Science award. 

Laura Deas is an international skeleton athlete who has represented Great Britain at the past two Olympic Games, winning a bronze medal at PyeongChang 2018. She became part of Team GB history by becoming both the first and only Welsh woman to win a Winter Olympic medal. As part of the first Winter Olympics podium to feature more than one Team GB athlete, she stood alongside her teammate Lizzy Yarnold. She has also won multiple World Cup medals and competed at five World Championships over a 13-year career.

Laura said: “I’m thrilled to be receiving this honorary degree from the University of Chester. I’ve felt a strong connection with Chester since growing up in the area, and it means a huge amount to have my sporting achievements recognised by such a highly-regarded institution.”

  • In Ceremony 10 David Pollock will receive an honorary Doctor of Business Administration award.

David founded technology services provider Chess in 1993, naming the company after his two eldest children, Charlie and Jessie.

Chess has been in the The Sunday Times 100 Best Companies to Work For, ranking number one in 2018, and has been in the top 100 for each of the past 14 years. David was also awarded Best Leader by The Sunday Times 100 Best Companies to Work For in 2017 and 2018 and received the Innovation in Business Award for his unique happiness training in 2016.

He was named EY UK Technology Entrepreneur of the Year in 2007, Telecoms Industry Entrepreneur of the Year 2008, Institute of Directors’ Cheshire Director of the Year in 2009 and was made a Deputy Lieutenant of Cheshire in 2012.

His business career began aged 16, promoting bands and DJs to his school friends. At 19, he hitchhiked around the world, moving to Los Angeles and New York in his twenties to work on TV shows, commercials, and music videos production.