Two Bath businessmen will be honoured on the first day of the University’s 2009 summer award ceremonies which begin tomorrow (Tuesday 30 June) at Bath Abbey. They are joining over 600 students who will receive their degrees at three ceremonies held during the day.
There will be a total of ten ceremonies, held between Tuesday 30 June and Thursday 2 July, involving over 2,000 students.
Bath businessmen Brian Roper MBE, founder of Roper Rhodes; and Bill Whiteley, former CEO of engineering company Rotork, will both receive honorary degrees.
Craigie Aitchison, one of Britain’s most popular and respected figurative artists, will become an honorary graduate in the first ceremony at 10am when students from the School of Management receive their degree awards, watched by their families and the Mayor of Bath, Councillor Colin Barrett.
Mr Roper will receive a degree of Doctor of Business Administration at the second ceremony at 12.30pm, with students from the School for Health and School of Management.
Mr Roper built his company from a £5,000 bank loan to become the UK’s leading independent supplier of bathroom accessories and furniture. He has combined business success with a strong social conscience, and donates over half a million pounds each year to local charities and organisations, for which he received an MBE last year.
Mr Roper has lived in Bath for 29 years and is deeply committed to community involvement. He has been a Bath City councillor, a member of the University Council and is currently Chair of the Trustees of the St Stephen’s Millennium Green Committee and President of Bath Liberal Democrats.
Mr Roper said of his award: “I’ve had a number of surprising things happen in my life but I have honestly never been more surprised to be offered this extraordinary and generous honour. It’s the most improbable thing that has ever happened to me.
“When the University decides to honour someone from the local community it’s a good thing. It says to the wider world that the University values what goes on in the City.”
Mr Roper strongly supports the University’s desire to integrate with the City and has funded ’sport taster’ sessions totalling £135,000 at the campus, enabling all primary and secondary school children in B&NES to experience university life.
Professor Chris Riddoch from the University’s School for Health will say in his oration: “Brian Roper is a very different type of businessman to the ‘profit at all costs’ stereotype. While of course any businessman must seek profit, Brian is possibly unique in the way in which he uses his business success to bring business and society closer together. In other words he ensures that his business re-invests in the community which feeds it. He is a truly principled business operation.”
In the third ceremony, at 3pm, students from the Division for Lifelong Learning and the Faculty of Engineering & Design will receive their degrees and Mr Bill Whiteley will receive a degree of Doctor of Engineering.
Mr Whiteley has been with Bath-based Rotork engineering company for 34 years, becoming its Group Chief Executive and Managing Director and taking it to a turnover of £350 million and 1,500 staff worldwide.
Rotork manufactures valve actuators that underpin a wide range of facilities from oil refineries to food processing plants, and has received the Queen’s Award for Enterprise Innovation.
Mr Whiteley is a graduate of the University of Bath in Economics & Business Administration, starting his studies in the University’s inaugural year.
Mr Whiteley said: “I’m absolutely thrilled to receive the award. I was an undergraduate at Bath in its first wave of students in 1966 and enjoyed it immensely. I’ve been fortunate enough, through being involved with Rotork for so long, to be able to keep up a level of contact and involvement but it never crossed my mind that I would get an honorary doctorate.
“I have always been an admirer of what the University has been able to achieve and its results. It has managed to be amazingly successful mainly because of the vocational nature of its courses and its very good contacts with industry and the outside world.”
Mr Whiteley has been chairman of University’s successful Innovative Design & Manufacturing Research Centre. With Rotork he has worked on a number of research and design projects and activities at the University.
Professor Steve Culley of the Department of Mechanical Engineering, will say in his oration: “Bill is a fine example of someone who has shown excellence in their chosen profession of business and shown how an engineering business can thrive based on innovative product development, well thought through manufacturing approaches, excellent financial control and marketing, and a skilful and well developed workforce.”
Other honorary graduates are:
- Painter Craigie Aitchison CBE, who was elected a Royal Academician in 1988 and received a CBE in 1999 for his contributions to British art. A major retrospective of his work was held at the Royal Academy in 2003 and he continues to exhibit widely in the UK and internationally.
- Justin King, chief executive of Sainsbury’s, is credited with reversing the fortunes of the supermarket chain. Mr King has a BSc in Business Administration from the University of Bath.
- Dr Krisana Kraisintu, a pharmaceutical consultant who has pioneered local production and increased access to life-saving medicines in Africa. In particular she is involved in the production of drugs to treat Malaria and HIV/AIDS.
- Martin Sadler, who is the Director of Hewlett Packard Laboratories Systems Security. He has worked for Hewlett Packard for 20 years and leads the firm’s information security research worldwide. His work has become the building block of modern day information security.
- David Bull, who has an MSc in Development Studies from the University of Bath. He joined UNICEF UK as Executive Director in 1999 and since then the charity has more than tripled its income and has positioned itself as an advocate for world children through a series of campaigns.
- Dr Florence Wambugu, who is a plant pathologist and virologist known for her advocacy of using biotechnology to increase food production in Africa. She received her PhD from the University of Bath.