Honorary Graduates 2019
Dame Patricia Routledge, DBE
Doctor of Letters (DLitt) in recognition of her outstanding contribution to theatre and television.
Dame Patricia Routledge has had a distinguished and prolific career with major roles spanning across the stage, television, radio, and films. The recipient of both a Tony and an Olivier Award, Dame Patricia was appointed DBE in the 2017 New Year Honours list for her services to theatre and charity. Her diverse career has taken her from working with the Royal Shakespeare Company to appearances on ITV’s Coronation Street.
Born in Birkenhead, Merseyside, Dame Patricia was educated at Birkenhead High School (now Birkenhead High School Academy) before beginning her studies at the University of Liverpool. A classically trained singer, Dame Patricia has played numerous leading roles on the stage especially within musical theatre, and her work has included collaborations with the likes of acclaimed musician Leonard Bernstein.
Dame Patricia is involved in many charitable organisations across the country, and her diverse list of patronages includes St Richard's Hospice, in Worcester, the Sussex Snowdrop Trust, and the Guild of Musicians and Singers. Dame Patricia also serves as an ambassador to the organisations Kidney Research UK and the Royal Voluntary Service, along with supporting a wide variety of other groups.
Duncan Selbie
Doctor of Public Health (DrPH) in recognition of his outstanding contribution to public health.
Prior to 2013, he was Chief Executive of Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals, the regional teaching hospital for the south east of England. From 2003 to 2007, he was the Director General of Programmes and Performance for the NHS and subsequently its first Director General of Commissioning. Prior to this, he was Chief Executive of South East London Strategic Health Authority and before that Chief Executive of the South West London and St George’s Mental Health NHS Trust. He joined the NHS in January 1980.
Joanna Lumley, OBE
Doctor of Letters (DLitt) in recognition of her outstanding contribution to the arts
Joanna Lumley was born in Kashmir. She spent three years as a photographic model, finally becoming a house model for the late Jean Muir, before becoming an actress. Joanna played Purdey in 24 episodes of The New Avengers and recorded 34 episodes of Sapphire and Steel - both programmes are constantly being transmitted world-wide. Her experiences of living alone on a desert island were filmed for a BBC Special, Girl Friday. Joanna is probably best known on television for her hugely popular role of Patsy in the award winning series Absolutely Fabulous for the BBC. In 1996, she travelled to Bhutan to film a journey made by her grandparents In The Kingdom Of The Thunder Dragon; other television work includes A Rather English Marriage (for which she was nominated for a BAFTA as Best Actress in a Drama) and, in 2000, found a new role as co-producer, for the series The Cazalet Chronicles for the BBC.
She has written five books, has an extensive theatre career and was awarded an OBE in the 1995 New Year Honours. Among the many charities she supports are The Prince’s Trust, SightSavers, The Born Free Foundation, Thames Reach Bondway, Ataxia and, famously, The Gurkha Welfare Trust.
Joanna is also the presenter of several highly respected travelogue documentaries. In 2018 and 2019 she presented the BAFTA awards in London.
Stephen Barlow, MA (Cantab), FRCO, FGSM
Doctor of Music (DMus,) in recognition for his outstanding contribution to the arts.
Stephen was Artistic Director of the Buxton Festival‚ a position he held from 2011 to 2018. He was a boy chorister at Canterbury Cathedral‚ and studied at King’s School‚ Canterbury; Trinity College‚ Cambridge (as Organ Scholar) and Guildhall School of Music and Drama‚ under Vilem Tausky.
He co-founded and was Music Director of Opera 80‚ and meanwhile was resident conductor at English National Opera‚ also working with Scottish Opera‚ Dublin Grand Opera‚ Opera North and Royal Opera House (Turandot‚ Die Zauberflöte). He was Artistic Director of Opera Northern Ireland from 1996 to 1999. In addition to his operatic work‚ he has conducted most of the major UK orchestras‚ and concert appearances have taken him all over the world. In 1997, he was appointed Music Director of the Queensland Philharmonic Orchestra. Recordings include Joseph James’ Requiem with Sumi Jo and his own composition Rainbow Bear (with his wife‚ Joanna Lumley‚ as narrator,) and has conducted the premières of his opera King in Canterbury Cathedral and his Clarinet Concerto with Emma Johnson and the Ulster Orchestra. As a pianist‚ he has recorded the complete songs of Butterworth‚ Delius and Quilter.
Roger Dutton, DL
Doctor of Laws (LLD) in recognition of his outstanding contribution to the legal profession.
Roger Thomas Dutton was born in Rossett, Wrexham in 1952. In October 1996, he was appointed one of Her Majesty’s Circuit Judges to sit on the Wales and Chester Circuit. At 44, he was the youngest appointment to the Circuit Bench.
Judge Dutton married Elaine (neé Dixon) in 1977. She died in June 2014. He has three adult children and four grandchildren. In October 2018, he married Jane Eames and they live in Gresford.
Roger was educated locally in Wrexham. He attended Acton Park Primary School and Grove Park Grammar School. He graduated from The University of Kent with a BA (Hons) in Law in 1973. He attended the Inns of Court School of Law, before being called to the Bar as a member of the Middle Temple in 1974.
He served his pupillage with Alan Lees at the well-known King Street Barristers Chambers in Chester, from whose number many have been appointed to the Bench over the years. From there, he practised in general common law before specialising in crime in later years. He was involved in several high profile cases during those years.
In 2016, he succeeded His Honour Judge Elgan Edwards DL as the Resident Judge at Chester Crown Court and became the Honorary Recorder of the City of Chester until his retirement in October 2018 after 44 years in law.
In younger days he was an energetic sportsman, but now restricts himself to club golf at Wrexham, where he has been a member for over 40 years. He is an avid follower of Welsh Rugby, cricket and the fortunes of Wrexham Football Club. He reads widely and enjoys gardening, walking and travel. He was a member of the Round Table and now the Association of Past Tablers. He is a member of the Rotary Club of Wrexham-Erddig.
In 2001, he became a member of the governing body of the North East Wales Institute (NEWI), an Associate College of the University of Wales. He was awarded an Honorary Fellowship on the college attaining university status as Glyndwr University.
He was appointed the Judge of the Consistory Court of St Asaph in the Church in Wales and Chancellor of the Diocese of St Asaph in 2009.
Matt Baker
Master of Music (MMus) in recognition of his outstanding contribution to the arts, in particular the Chester Mystery Plays and as Artistic Director of Theatre in the Quarter.
Matt Baker is a composer, musical director and performer. He has composed for theatre productions around the UK, including New Vic Theatre Stoke, Nuffield Theatre Southampton and Dukes Theatres Lancaster. He was composer and Musical Director for the 2003, 2008, 2013 and 2018 cycles of Chester Mystery Plays, and the hugely successful Chester City Passion in 2016 and 2017.
Matt is also Artistic Director for the city’s Theatre in the Quarter, a Chester-based professional theatre company which has created exciting theatre with music involving people of all ages, abilities and backgrounds. Its work has taken place in a range of settings, from palaces to railway stations, regional theatres to village halls. Matt is musical director for the vivacious and successful all women’s choir, A Handbag of Harmonies, the new LGBT choir for Chester, Proud Marys, and Director of Music for the University of Chester Choir.
Matt’s work as musical director takes him to all corners of the world, including Australia, India, Malaysia and Germany. He is also widely sought to bring people from all backgrounds together in singing, whether it is hundreds of children in a park, or thousands of bank workers in a stadium.
He was awarded the Cheshire Community and Voluntary Arts award for Outstanding Contribution to the Arts in 2016. For more about Matt’s work visit his website mattbakermusic.co.uk.
Matt was recognised in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List 2021.
Tony Garnett DL, FRAgS
Doctor of Science (DSc) in recognition of his outstanding contribution to the County of Cheshire, in particular for his role as Chairman of the Cheshire Agricultural Society.
Tony received a Fellowship of The Royal Agricultural Societies of England: the prestigious accolade was for his dedication to agricultural and he has now been made a Fellow of the RASE. He retired as Chairman of The Royal Cheshire Show and Cheshire Agricultural Society, in June 2019 and upon his retirement was made Honorary Life Warden, a position only previously held by two others, Lord Woolley and John Platt, who was Chairman of The Cheshire Agricultural Society for 30 years.
He is currently President Elect for the Cheshire Farms Competitions. He has held numerous President and Chairman roles including being a Council member of The Cheshire Agricultural Society of Cheshire for 25 years and Chairman of The Cheshire Show for 12 years. During his time as Chairman, Tony has worked hard to bring back the agricultural side to the Show and all agricultural trade stand space was taken in 2014 and 2015 with further space allocated for agricultural trade stands.
Tony is a member of the RASC (Royal Association Society Commonwealth) and attended the Commonwealth Conference in Zambia in 2012 and RASC Conference in Australia in 2014 and attending the Conference in Canada in autumn 2018. He hosted a visit by The Archbishop of York at Clay Bank Farm. Clay Bank Farm has hosted numerous events over the years, including National Holstein Events, National Stock judgings, Herd competitions and many parties of students from Reaseheath College, Colleges from Ireland and the UK, The National Grassland Society UK visit in 2007 and a party of Australian farmers.
John Mahon
Honorary degree of Doctor of Business Administration (DBA) in recognition of his outstanding contribution to business and management, in particular as John M Murphy Chair of International Business Policy and Strategy at the University of Maine.
John F Mahon was the first holder of the John M Murphy Chair of International Business Policy and Strategy/Professor of Management at the Maine Business School, University of Maine (2001-2019). He was the Founding Director of the School of Policy and International Affairs at UM and has served as Provost ad interim; and Dean, College of Business Public Policy and Health. Prior to Maine, Mahon was a Professor of Strategy and Policy/Chair of the Strategy and Policy Department at the School of Management, Boston University. He received his DBA from Boston University, his M.B.A. (with honors) from Bryant College, and his BSc in Economics from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.
Professor Mahon has won 12 national awards for his research and writing during the period 2008-2011. He is the author or co-author of over 300 cases, papers and book chapters. In May 2011, he was the recipient of the University of Maine’s Presidential Research and Creative Achievement Award. In January 2012, he was appointed a Visiting Professor to the University of Chester by the Duke of Westminster. In 2014, he received an Aspen National Faculty Pioneer Award in New York City sponsored by the Ford Foundation and the Aspen Society for course development related to Abrupt Climate Change, Business and Public Policy. In 2018, Professor Mahon was the recipient of the University of Maine Alumni Foundation Distinguished Maine Professor Award (only one faculty member is awarded this honor each year).
Professor Mahon has won numerous awards for his teaching excellence at local and national level. He was the first co-recipient of the General Electric Corporation Award for leadership in management curriculum reform and was recognised by Prentice-Hall for teaching excellence at the National Meetings of the Academy of Management in San Francisco.
He resides in Kingfield, Maine with his spouse of 49 years, Julie, Holly, the amazing cattle dog and Audrey, the audacious cat.
Derek Griffiths, MBE
Honorary degree of Doctor of Letters (DLitt) in recognition of his outstanding contribution to drama and the arts.
Derek Griffiths’ work in theatre includes Nude with Violin at the Royal Exchange (Manchester Evening News Best Actor Award); Measure for Measure and Twelfth Night for the Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford-upon-Avon; Sing a Rude Song, Two Gentleman of Verona, The Black Mikado, The Travelling Music Show, The Secret Life of Cartoons, Run for Your Wife, Dry Rot, Alladi, Snow White, Babes in the Wood, Miss Saigon, Beauty and the Beast, Noises Off, Twelfth Night, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and The Exonerated in the West End.
TV includes Casualty, Holby City, Doctors, Bleak Old Shop of Stuff, Silent Witness and Coronation Street. As a composer he has written music for Heads and Tails, Bod, Two by Two, Mythical Magical Creatures and many TV jingles. He also wrote the music and lyrics for The Three Musketeers at the Royal Exchange.
In 2014, he was awarded the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors Gold Award for his music work in television.
Katie Derham
Honorary degree of Doctor of Music (DMus) in recognition of her outstanding contribution to the arts and broadcasting.
Katie Derham is a presenter on BBC Radio 3 and one of the station’s best-known voices, currently presenting drive time programme In Tune, fronting the show on rotation with Sean Rafferty. Other Radio 3 credits include Sound of Dance and Afternoons.
She has also been the face of the BBC Proms since 2010 and hosts the weekly magazine show Proms Encore every Saturday on BBC2 during the season. Katie also presented for BBC Four’s series of Discovering concert programmes in 2019, and was the host of All Together Now: The Great Orchestra Challenge for BBC4 and Fine Tuned, two specials for Sky Arts in which she discussed music with Alexander Armstrong alongside exclusive performances from his latest albums.
In 2015 Katie’s career took a decidedly glittery direction when she took part in Strictly Come Dancing and reached the final, in 2017 she was crowned Strictly Christmas champion.
Paul Lewis
Honorary degree of Doctor of Business Administration (DBA) in recognition of his outstanding contribution to financial journalism and broadcasting.
Paul Lewis has been a freelance financial journalist since 1986. He has presented Money Box on Radio 4 since 2000 and appears on many radio and television programmes. He writes for Saga Magazine, Radio Times, Financial Times, and Money Marketing.
He has won many awards since 1986. Most recently he was e has won many awardsHeadline Money Financial Broadcaster of the Year 2017 and voted Consumer Champion 2017 by the Chartered Insurance Institute. In 2018 he was the Kames Capital broadcast journalist of the year.
He has an honorary doctorate from University of Essex for his journalism over many years defending the interests of consumers. He is also an authority on the Victorian writer Wilkie Collins and edits his letters.
Lord Carlile of Berriew
Honorary degree of Doctor of Laws (LLD) in recognition of his outstanding contribution to the legal profession and as a member of parliament.
Alex Carlile was born in Ruabon, Wrexham, North Wales in 1948. After education at Epsom College he graduated LLB AKC at King’s College London. Lord Carlile was called to the Bar by Gray’s Inn (where he is now a Bencher) in 1970. He practised in common law cases, both civil and crime, initially from chambers in Chester. He became a QC in 1984, at the age of 36. Until 2009 he was the Honorary Recorder of the City of Hereford. He sat as a Recorder of the Crown Court, a Deputy High Court Judge, and Chairman of the Competition Appeal Tribunal. Between 2001-2011, he was the Independent Reviewer of Terrorism Legislation; the Independent Reviewer of the Government’s new PREVENT policy; and was until 2013 the independent reviewer of National Security policy in Northern Ireland.
From 1983-1997, he was the Liberal (then Liberal Democrat) MP for Montgomeryshire in Mid Wales. During that time, he served as spokesperson on a range of issues, including Home Affairs and the Law. He was Leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats from 1992-7. He is now an independent Peer. He was appointed a Life Peer in 1999 and was awarded the CBE in 2012 for services to national security. He now sits on the cross-benches in the House of Lords.
Lord Carlile, until 2007, was Head of Chambers of one of the largest and most respected criminal and public law barrister sets in London, 9-12 Bell Yard. He remains a member of Chambers, specialising in the civil and criminal aspects of commercial fraud, the law of public policy, international human rights law, and the law on security matters. He also advises foreign governments, and senior figures and much of his work as a QC relates to matters of highest confidentiality. He is a Fellow of King’s College London and an Honorary Professor of Law in the University of Swansea.
He has three daughters and two step-daughters, and several grandchildren. He lives in London with his wife, Alison Levitt QC, who is a member of the leading barristers’ chambers, 2 Hare Court.
Dame Jenni Murray, DBE
Honorary degree of Doctor of Letters (DLitt) in recognition of her outstanding contribution to journalism and broadcasting.
Jenni Murray was born and educated in Barnsley, and has a degree in French and Drama from the University of Hull. She joined BBC Radio Bristol in 1973 and went on to report and present for BBC TV's South Today. In 1983, she joined Newsnight. Two years later, she moved to Radio 4 as a presenter for the Today programme. She became the regular presenter of Woman's Hour in 1987.
Jenni writes regularly for various newspapers and magazines. She is also the author of several books including A History of Britain in 21 Women; A History of the World in 21 Women: A Personal Selection; The Woman's Hour: A History of Women Since World War II, Is It Me or Is It Hot In Here: A Modern Woman's Guide to the Menopause; That's My Boy and Memoirs of a Not So Dutiful Daughter.
In 1998, Jenni was nominated Radio Broadcaster of the Year and in the Queen's Birthday Honours 1999, she was awarded an OBE for radio broadcasting. In 2007, she became a member of the Radio Academy Hall of Fame and was given a lifetime achievement award by the Media Society.
In 2010, she won a Sony Award for her interview with Sharon Shoesmith and, in 2011, Sony Gold for an outstanding and exemplary career. In the 2011 Queen's Birthday Honours, she became Dame Jenni Murray.
Sheila Dillon
Honorary degree of Doctor of Letters (DLitt) in recognition of her outstanding contribution to journalism and broadcasting.
Sheila Dillon has been a food journalist for more than three decades. She has worked on BBC Radio 4’s The Food Programme, first as a reporter, then producer and now presenter.
In her early days on the programme, she produced groundbreaking editions on BSE--mad cow disease and its connections to our desire for cheap food, the rise of GM foods, the growth of the organic movement from muck and magic to multi-million pound business, and the birth of the World Trade Organisation - triggering the modern globalisation of our food supply. All at a time when those subjects were not widely covered in the media and certainly not covered by 'food' programmes.
Recent programmes on robots in the food business, the origins of the horsemeat fraud, the glory of British pies, diet and cancer, and the inadequacies of medical training when doctors are now faced every day with diet-induced diseases, carry on the tradition. In 2000, she helped set up the BBC Food and Farming Awards which judge shops, producers, campaigners, cooks in public organisations and policy makers not only for the quality of their food but the difference they make to their communities, as well as the local and national economies. She’s won numerous awards for her journalism, including the Glaxo science prize.
Wayne McGregor, CBE
Honorary degree of Doctor of Letters (DLitt) in recognition of his outstanding contribution to choreography and dance.
Born in 1970, Wayne McGregor CBE is a multi-award winning British choreographer and director, internationally renowned for trailblazing innovations in performance that have radically redefined dance in the modern era. Driven by an insatiable curiosity about movement and its creative potentials, his experiments have led him into collaborative dialogue with an array of artistic forms, scientific disciplines, and technological interventions.
Company Wayne McGregor is McGregor’s ensemble of highly skilled dancers. Founded in 1993, this was the original instrument through which McGregor evolved his distinctive visual style, revealing the movement possibilities of the body in ever more precise degrees of articulation. McGregor has made over thirty works for the company and today it continues to be his laboratory for ambitious and experimental new choreography, touring his work across the UK and around the world. Company Wayne McGregor is Resident Company at Sadler’s Wells, London.
McGregor is also Resident Choreographer at The Royal Ballet, where his productions are acclaimed for their daring reconfiguring of classical language. He is also regularly commissioned by and has works in the repertories of the most important ballet companies in the world, including Paris Opera Ballet, Munich Ballet, New York City Ballet, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Bolshoi Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, NDT 1, Australian Ballet, Royal Danish Ballet and San Francisco Ballet.
Wayne McGregor is Professor of Choreography at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance, has an Honorary Doctor of Science from Plymouth University and an Honorary Doctor of Letters from University of Leeds, and is part of the Circle of Cultural Fellows at King’s College London. In 2017 he was awarded an Honorary Fellowship of the British Science Association. He became an Arts Foundation Ambassador in 2019. In 2011 McGregor was awarded a CBE for Services to Dance.
Nickolas Grace
Honorary degree of Doctor of Letters (DLitt) in recognition of his outstanding contribution to drama and the arts.
Nickolas was born in West Kirby and educated at King’s, Chester and Forest School, Walthamstow. He received a scholarship to Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, followed by Repertory in Frinton, Manchester and Nottingham.
He has had roles in the Royal Shakespeare Company, from 1972-78 included: Biondello in Alan Bates’ Taming of the Shrew; Aumerle in Richardson/ Pasco Richard II (Stratford and New York); Aeneas in Troilus and Cressida; Hitler in Schweyk and Witwoud in Way of the World; Dromio of Ephesus in musical version of Comedy of Errors with Dame Judi Dench (Stratford, London and ITV). He played Hamlet for the opening of Derby Playhouse in 1975.
Other theatre includes: Renfield in Dracula with Terence Stamp (Shaftesbury Theatre); MC in Cabaret (Bristol Old Vic); Edgar in King Lear and the title role in Richard II (Young Vic); Puck in A Midsummer Night’s Dream; Nick in What the Butler Saw (Old Vic); Mozart in Amadeus (Her Majesty’s); Koko in The Mikado; Joseph Porter in HMS Pinafore (Sadler’s Wells and New York); Voltaire in Bernstein’s Candide (Scottish Opera/ Old Vic/ Lisbon Opera/ BBC TV - Olivier Nomination); Nicodemus in The Mystery of Irma Vep (Ambassador’s); Cole Porter in A Swell Party (Vaudeville); Life Support with Alan Bates (Aldwych); Grimaldi in Dick Wittington (Sadler’s Wells and Barbican); Underling in The Drowsy Chaperone with Elaine Paige (Novello); Trinity in Chariots of Fire (Gielgud); Jules in Sunday in the Park with George (Châtelet, Paris).
Film and TV includes: Anthony Blanche in Brideshead Revisited (BAFTA Nomination); Sheriff of Nottingham in Robin of Sherwood (ACE Nomination); Nelson in Napoleon and Josephine; Marcus in Birds of a Feather; Boozer-Pitt in House of Cards; Harry in Heat and Dust; Merlin; Sharpe; Bertrand Russell in Tom and Viv; title-role in Lorca (Montecarlo Prize); Montgomery in D-Day to Berlin; Tailor in Evita; Casey in My Family; Postlethwaite in Decline and Fall; Larry in Killing Eve.
Directing credits include: Tobias and the Angel (Interdrama Award); The Sea: The Ruling Class; The Betrayal of Nora Blake (Observer Musical of the Year) and Helping Harry (London, Berlin and USA).
He is also a Fellow of Royal Central School and a Companion of LIPA.
2011 to 2018. He was a boy chorister at Canterbury Cathedral‚ and studied at King’s School‚ Canterbury; Trinity College‚ Cambridge (as Organ Scholar) and Guildhall School of Music and Drama‚ under Vilem Tausky.
He co-founded and was Music Director of Opera 80‚ and meanwhile was resident conductor at English National Opera‚ also working with Scottish Opera‚ Dublin Grand Opera‚ Opera North and Royal Opera House (Turandot‚ Die Zauberflöte). He was Artistic Director of Opera Northern Ireland from 1996 to 1999. In addition to his operatic work‚ he has conducted most of the major UK orchestras‚ and concert appearances have taken him all over the world. In 1997, he was appointed Music Director of the Queensland Philharmonic Orchestra. Recordings include Joseph James’ Requiem with Sumi Jo and his own composition Rainbow Bear (with his wife‚ Joanna Lumley‚ as narrator,) and has conducted the premières of his opera King in Canterbury Cathedral and his Clarinet Concerto with Emma Johnson and the Ulster Orchestra. As a pianist‚ he has recorded the complete songs of Butterworth‚ Delius and Quilter.
Alex Black
Master of Arts (MA) in recognition of his outstanding contribution to the City of Chester, and support of the University and its development.
Councillor Alex Black received an Honorary Degree of Master of Arts during the 2019 Alumni Honorary Degree Ceremonies, acknowledging his work as a community champion, which has been transformative in the City of Chester.
The late Brian Crowe
Master of Arts (MA) in recognition of his outstanding contribution to the City of Chester, and support of the University and its development.
The late Councillor Brian Crowe received an Honorary Degree of Master of Arts during the 2019 Alumni Honorary Degree Ceremonies, acknowledging his work as a community champion, which has been transformative in the City of Chester.
Myles Hogg
Master of Arts (MA) in recognition of his outstanding contribution to the City of Chester, and support of the University and its development.
Councillor Myles Hogg received an Honorary Degree of Master of Arts during the 2019 Alumni Honorary Degree Ceremonies, acknowledging his work as a community champion, which has been transformative in the City of Chester.