Graduation 2015. Wednesday 22 July 2015 The University of Sheffield Your graduation day is a special day for you and your family, a day for celebrating your achievements and looking forward to a bright future. As a graduate of the University of Sheffield you have every reason to be proud. You are joining a long tradition of excellence stretching back more than 100 years. The University of Sheffield was founded with the amalgamation of the School of Medicine, Sheffield Technical School and Firth College. In 1905, we received a Royal Charter and Firth Court was officially opened by King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra. At that time, there were 363 students reading for degrees in arts, pure science, medicine and applied science. By the time of our centenary, there were over 25,000 students from more than 100 countries, across 70 academic departments. Today, a degree from Sheffield is recognised all over the world as a hallmark of academic excellence. We are proud of our graduates and we are confident that you will make a difference wherever you choose to build your future. With every generation of graduates, our university goes from strength to strength. This is the original fundraising poster from 1904/1905 which helped raise donations for the University of Sheffield. Over £50,000 (worth more than £15 million today) was donated by steelworkers, coal miners, factory workers and the people of Sheffield in penny donations to help found the University. A century on, the University is now rated as one of the top world universities – according to the Shanghai Jiao Tong Academic Ranking of World Universities. The University of Sheffield Graduation: Wednesday 22 July 2015 1 Welcome from the Vice-Chancellor For all of us here at the University, this is one of the high points in the year, as we congratulate you on your achievements and share with you in your hopes and plans for the future. But this is by no means the end of your association with the University. Today you are joining the ever-growing global community of University of Sheffield alumni. We hope that you will keep in touch with us, and with each other, in the years to come. Congratulations to you and a warm welcome to your family and friends. We hope everyone here today enjoys this very special occasion. Professor Sir Keith Burnett The Chancellor The Chancellor, Sir Peter Middleton, GCB is the senior lay Officer of the University and is the President of its Court and Honorary President of the Alumni Board. Sir Peter Middleton was born and educated in Sheffield. He is a graduate of the University of Sheffield (BA 1955, Economics) and was awarded an Honorary Doctorate in 1984. Sir Peter has served as Chancellor of the University since 1999 and is an Honorary Professor in the Management School. Sir Peter spent nearly 30 years as an official in the Treasury, working closely with nine chancellors and was Permanent Secretary from 1983 to 1991. Knighted in 1984, Sir Peter joined Barclays Bank in 1991, serving until 2004 as Deputy Chairman, CEO and Chairman. From 2004 to 2006 he was president of the British Bankers Association. Sir Peter has recently retired from the position of UK Chairman of Marsh & McLennan Companies and is currently Chairman of Burford Capital. 2 The University of Sheffield Graduation: Wednesday 22 July 2015 Reasons to be Proud Graduation is a time to recognise and celebrate achievement and success, and every graduate has a story to tell of effort and attainment. You should feel proud you are graduating from a world-leading university that is helping address some of the most urgent challenges facing society today. That’s why some of the world’s most talented, ambitious staff and students come here, finding a place they can challenge accepted wisdom, push boundaries and break the mould. The University of Sheffield Graduation: Wednesday 22 July 2015 3 1 Big Thank You • Our construction of one of the most advanced As a place to live and study, we believe factories in the world has passed another Sheffield is impossible to beat. milestone. Factory 2050 will be the UK’s first fully- And the latest Times Higher Education reconfigurable digital factory. Student Experience Survey highlights just • We’ve submitted a masterplan for the next phase how special Sheffield is, voted number one in of our Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC) with Boeing which could create 1,800 new the UK for student experience. jobs and bring £72.4 million to the local economy. We believe that’s because we are building • We’re supporting an ambitious plan to create the something very special here in the city we call UK’s first Advanced Manufacturing Innovation District home - academic excellence and the very best around the Sheffield and Rotherham corridor to student experience. create new jobs and strengthen our economy. Recognised Pioneered • Second year philosophy student Alex Bushnell has • Our physicists are helping to build the world’s biggest written and co-produced a film that appeared at the and most revolutionary solar telescope in Hawaii. Cannes Film Festival. • Our cancer researchers have developed a new drug • Dr Caroline Sarojini Hart from our School of which could soon be treating ovarian cancer patients Education has developed a downloadable resource to throughout Europe and the United States. help schools across the country implement new food • We’ve launched an initiative to tackle the world’s standards. greatest energy challenges. Energy 2050 brings • Health researcher Dr Clare Relton is leading a together international scholars, industry experts scheme to improve breastfeeding rates in areas and government officials to drive forward energy where rates are traditionally low. research and innovation. • Sheffield scientists are part of a new research centre • Our scientists have succeeded in using a 3D printed in India working to find solutions to excessive use of guide to help nerves damaged in traumatic incidents antibiotics. repair themselves. • A safer, cheaper and more viable alternative for • Our new research centre is working to address food disposing of nuclear waste developed by our security issues around the world. engineers is set to be trialled in the USA. • The University is leading the UK’s first dedicated research centre to improve higher education. Honoured • Engineers at the University are using glow in the dark tampons to identify where waste water is polluting our rivers. • Third year PhD student Marwa Mahmoud from our Department of Cardiovascular Science has been • Our researchers have identified ways that technology awarded a Young Investigator Prize for her research can help people improve and maintain positive into blood flow patterns at disease prone sites in the mental health. arteries. • Dr Alison Gartland from our Department of Human • Dr Catherine Fletcher from our Department of Metabolism has identified a key to preventing History has been named as a ‘New Generation secondary cancers in breast cancer patients. Thinker’ by BBC Radio 3 – an accolade which • Students from the Department of Biomedical Science recognises some of the brightest minds in academia. are leading a project to raise awareness of organ • Professor Martin Thornhill from our School of donation. Clinical Dentistry has been presented with a • A group of students from the University have Distinguished Scientist Award for Oral Medicine and launched an initiative to collect surplus food from Pathology in recognition of his research revealing the campus food outlets and redistribute it to those who serious impact of oral health on the heart. need it most in the city. • Genevieve LeBaron from our Department of Politics has earned a British Academy Rising Star Award for early career researchers. Invested • Professor Claire McGourlay from our School of Law has been chosen by the Higher Education Academy • Our new £81 million building – The Diamond – has to receive a National Teaching Fellowship – one of reached a landmark phase in its construction the most prestigious awards for excellence in higher ahead of opening for teaching in September 2015. education. As well as specialist engineering teaching facilities, the building will house a range of lecture theatres, • We’ve honoured Professor Diana Greenfield, a seminar rooms, open-plan learning spaces, library Macmillan Consultant Nurse based in Sheffield, for and IT services, and space for informal get-togethers. her incredible work championing the needs of cancer The building marks our largest ever investment in survivors. teaching and learning. • Professor Jon Nicholl, the Dean of our School of • We’re offering £2.2 million worth of postgraduate Health and Related Research (ScHARR), has been scholarships in one of the biggest postgraduate honoured by Her Majesty The Queen in recognition taught scholarship schemes in the country. of his outstanding contribution to health research. • We’re backing the development of a Business Innovation District to make Sheffield a better place to visit, work and live. 4 The University of Sheffield Graduation: Wednesday 22 July 2015 Honorary Degrees The University of Sheffield confers honorary degrees (or degreeshonoris causa – as a ‘mark of honour’) on people who have given distinguished service or brought distinction to the University, the City of Sheffield or the region. They may be individuals of national or international standing or alumni of the University who have risen to the heights of their chosen profession or field of service. The University tradition of recognising excellence in this way dates back to the first congregation to award Sheffield degrees. This took place on 2 July 1908 in Firth Hall, and the first honorary degree was awarded to the then Chancellor, the Duke of Norfolk. The University is proud to include many notable figures amongst its honorary graduates in the years since and 2015 is no exception.