Honorary Fellows 2006
Rt. Hon Lady Justice Mary Arden
For services to the legal profession
Lady Justice Arden was the first practising woman barrister to be named to the Court of Appeal in 2000. She actively campaigned for more family- friendly and flexible working hours, as well as greater transparency in the appointments process.
She has received numerous honours, including her appointment as Queen’s Counsel in 1986 and her term of office as Attorney-General of Duchy of Lancaster between 1991-1993. She became the first female High Court Judge of the Chancery Division in 1993, the same year she was appointed Dame Commander of the British Empire for services to the legal profession.
Three years later, she was appointed the first female Chairman of the Law Commission and in 1997 received The Times Woman of Achievement Lifetime Award.
Johnny Ball
For services to broadcasting and education
Johnny popularised science and mathematics throughout his broadcasting career with programmes such as the BBC’s Think of a Number and Think Again, making the obscure and complex understandable as well as entertaining.
Read the oration for Johnny Ball.
Angela Frier MBE
For services to journalism and broadcasting
Angela, former Managing Director of ITN International, worked at ITN for over 25 years. In her role as Foreign Affairs Producer, she covered most of the major global news stories during the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s, including both Gulf wars and civil wars in the former Yugoslavia, Africa and Russia. She was awarded an MBE for services to television news in 1995.
Read the oration for Angela Frier.
Sir Antony Gormley
For outstanding contribution to the arts
Working on an increasingly ambitious scale in such works as Another Place, Angel of the North, Inside Australia and Quantum Cloud, Antony has been credited with the ‘democratisation’ of art. His breakthrough came with Field, which has toured America, Europe and Asia. In 1993, Tate Liverpool showed Field for the British Isles made with people aged from 7 to 70 in St Helens, Merseyside.
Since winning the Turner Prize in 1994, Antony Gormley’s work has been exhibited extensively, both in the UK and internationally. He is perhaps best known locally as the creator of Crosby’s Another Place and nationally for the monumental Angel of the North in Gateshead.
Read the oration for Sir Antony Gormley.
Sir Robin Knox-Johnston CBE
For services to tourism and outdoor education
Sir Robin was the first person to sail single-handed round the world non- stop and is Chairman of Clipper Ventures plc. He is the former President of the Sail Training Association, a youth development organisation and served as a Trustee of the National Maritime Museum at Greenwich from 1993 until 2003, and on the Sports Lottery Panel and Sport England Council from 1996 until 2002.
He was knighted in 1995, and has uniquely been the UK’s Yachtsman of the Year three times. He was the International Sailing Federation (ISAF) Sailor of the Year with Peter Blake in 1994 and in 2007, was one of the first six inductees into the ISAF Hall of Fame.
Read the oration for Sir Robin Knox-Johnston.
Gordon McGregor Reid
For services to zoology
Gordon is the former Director General and Chief Executive of The North of England Zoological Society, popularly known as Chester Zoo. The independent charity for conservation, education and science is also one of the leading wildlife attractions in the UK, receiving well over one million paying guests each year.
Under Gordon McGregor Reid’s leadership, this major wildlife attraction gained more than 100 international, national and regional awards for success in conservation, environment management education, science, and business excellence, including the Queen’s Award for Enterprise in the category of Sustainable Development, the highest business accolade in the UK.
Read the oration for Gordon McGregor Reid.
Roy Morris CBE
For services to business and commerce and the regeneration of Liverpool
Following an outstanding career in investment banking with Rathbones, Roy remained loyal to the city of his birth. He was Chairman of The Mersey Partnership until 2008 and continues to make an outstanding contribution to the regeneration of Liverpool and region through his extensive charity work.
He is a Trustee and Chairman of several large charitable trusts and was a Trustee of LJMU, the Merseyside Kidney Research Trust and the Merseyside Heritage Fund. He was the Home Secretary’s representative for appointments to the Liverpool Police Authority (1999-2001) and has been a Deputy Lieutenant of Merseyside since 1999. He received his CBE in 2008 and served as High Sheriff of Merseyside between 2010 and 2011.
Read the oration for Roy Morris.
Dame Gillian Oliver
For services to nursing and healthcare
With extensive experience in cancer nursing and palliative care, Dame Gillian has played an instrumental role in developing cancer services, policy and strategy in the UK and beyond.
Throughout her outstanding career, Dame Gillian has shown a long-term commitment to cancer services and the care and support patients: at a practical level as a ward sister; at national level while working as Adviser in Oncology Nursing at the Royal College of Nursing; and at organisational and managerial levels as Director of Patient Services at the Clatterbridge Centre for Oncology on the Wirral.
She was created DBE in June 1998 for services to healthcare and nursing, and was awarded a Fellowship of the Royal College of Nursing later that year. In 2004, she was awarded the Gold Medal from Macmillan Cancer Relief in recognition of outstanding services to the people and families of those suffering from cancer.
Read the oration for Dame Gillian Oliver.
Barry Owen OBE
For services to business and commerce
Barry is the Chairman of commercial property company Mason Owen, a company he founded in 1967 with Geoff Mason.
Over five decades Barry has been involved with all aspects of the business, particularly with investment and development. He received an OBE in 2009 for services to charity and the property industry.
Read the oration for Barry Owen.
Lord Ernest Oxburgh
For services to the environment, science and technology
Originally from Liverpool, Lord Oxburgh, has had a formidable academic career, with his research largely focusing on the thermal behaviour of the Earth’s crust. His strong views on climate change and calls for tougher laws and taxes on using oil and gas to reduce CO2 emissions into the atmosphere, together with his commitment to corporate social responsibility, made him an interesting appointment as Chair of Shell in 2003. There he helped to formulate the company’s strategy on environmentally-friendly technologies, which may play a role in meeting future energy needs.
Lord Oxburgh also worked as Chief Scientific Adviser at the Ministry of Defence and Rector of Imperial College. He is a cross-bench peer in the House of Lords and a member of The Arctic Select Committee. In addition to his charity work, Lord Oxburgh has chaired the Science, Engineering, Technology and Mathematics Network which promotes the subjects among young people.
Read the oration for Lord Ernest Oxburgh.
Phil Swash
For services to industry and engineering
Phil joined Airbus in 1995 and played a pivotal role during a remarkable period of growth in market share, investments, new products and new technology development. As Vice-President and Plant Manager of the Broughton Wing Manufacturing unit, he managed the largest plant of its kind in the UK and Europe, employing over 6,500 people. He is now CEO of GKN Land Systems.
Read the oration for Phil Swash.
Lech Walesa
For services to democracy
Lech Walesa is best known as the leader of the Solidarity movement which led Poland out of Communism following years of peaceful protest which began in 1980. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1983, and 10 years after the struggle began, Walesa, a former electrician, was elected President of the Republic of Poland, signifying the end of Communist rule in his country. He went on to serve as President until 1995.
Steve Williams
For services to promoting professional education
President of the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (2005–2006), Steve is widely acknowledged as a unifying influence between the UK and non-UK segments of the profession. His professional training at LJMU, his early grounding in UK estates management practice and his extensive international experience provided him with the unique opportunity to make a lasting contribution to the world-wide harmonisation of standards in the profession.
Read the oration for Steve Williams.
