In the last year a select number of honorary degrees have been awarded to individuals who have achieved eminence in their chosen field or made outstanding contributions to the local community. Their full biographies are below:
Sir Michael Bibby Bt. is Managing Director of Bibby Line Group Limited, a group of global companies with interests in shipping, marine services, logistics, financial services, offshore services and retailing. After qualifying as a Chartered Accountant at Coopers & Lybrand in London, he spent several years at Unilever as a project accountant, where he was involved in a number of acquisitions, disposals and joint venture projects, before taking up the position of Finance Director of Bibby Line Limited in 1992. In January 2000 he was appointed Managing Director of Bibby Line Group Limited. Michael is a Director of the Chamber of Shipping, Director of Mersey Maritime and Typhoon Holdings, and he is also Chairman of the Fundraising Committee of the Prince’s Trust in Merseyside.
Professor PC Ching (BEng 1977, PhD 1981) is Pro-Vice-Chancellor and Director of the Shun Hing Institute of Advanced Engineering at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. A University of Liverpool graduate, he continued his research at the University of Bath, before returning to Hong Kong in 1982 to teach at the then Hong Kong Polytechnic University. In 1984, Professor Ching joined the Chinese University of Hong Kong as Professor of Electronic Engineering, and was later appointed Pro-Vice-Chancellor. In 2010 he was awarded the Bronze Bauhinia Star by the Hong Kong SAR Government. He is a guest professor of Tsinghua University, Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Southeast University, and the Chinese Academy of Science. A tireless supporter of the University, he has played a leading role in the University of Liverpool Graduate Association (Hong Kong) since it was established more than 20 years ago.
Professor Sir Ian Gilmore DL is an honorary consultant physician at the Royal Liverpool University Hospital and holds an honorary chair at the University. He is the immediate past-president of the Royal College of Physicians (RCP) and the current president of the British Society of Gastroenterology. He is also chairman of Liverpool Health Partners, a partnership between the University and the teaching hospitals in Liverpool which promotes an Academic Health Science System in order to foster academic innovation, education and service development in the region. Sir Ian has particular interest in health harms related to alcohol misuse, and chairs the UK Alcohol Health Alliance and European Alcohol and Health Forum Science Group. He is also a Deputy Lieutenant of Merseyside and received a Knighthood in the Queen’s Birthday Honours in 2010.
Rosemary Hawley MBE JP DL is Chair of NHS Knowsley. She has previously served as Chair of North Mersey Community Trust and the Liverpool Family Health Services Authority, and as Non-Executive Director of the Regional Health Authority. During her prolific career working in various health and community organisations, Rosemary has also been a board member of Guy’s Hospital, the Merseyside Regional Health Authority and the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine. In 1997 she was one of the first recipients of the Duncan Society’s Duncan Medal which is awarded to individuals who have made an outstanding contribution to the public health and wellbeing of the community. Rosemary served as High Sheriff of Merseyside between 2005 and 2006, was awarded an MBE for services to healthcare in Merseyside in 2007, and has also worked as a magistrate.
Lawrence McGinty (BSc Zoology 1969) is an award-winning Science Editor currently working for ITN. A University of Liverpool graduate, Lawrence wrote for the New Scientist for 10 years, and in 1978 he was awarded the Queen’s Silver Jubilee Medal for services to science journalism. When Channel 4 was launched in 1982, Lawrence was appointed as its first science correspondent and was later awarded a Science Writers’ Fellowship of the Association of British Science Writers and picked up two British Academy of Film and Television Arts Awards. During his career he has flown a Harrier jump jet, swum with a Beluga whale, and reported on a number of high-profile stories, including the 1992 Olympic drug scandal for which he was awarded the Royal Television Society Television Sports Award. In 2005 he received the Medical Journalists’ Association award for Health Journalist of the Year.
Gee Walker is founder of the Anthony Walker Foundation, a charity she established following the death of her son in a racially motivated attack in Liverpool in July 2005. The mission of the Foundation is to promote racial harmony and equality and to support law enforcement agencies to reduce hate crime and build safer communities. Gee speaks to groups about her forgiveness of her son’s killers, advocating the need for all children to be educated so they can realise their potential. In addition to hosting presentations and workshops, the charity offers outreach support to victims of hate crimes, diversity training for young offenders, and provides scholarships for young people seeking careers in law and youth work. The Foundation has also set up a grant-funded Young Ambassadors Programme designed to give young people the training to become future leaders in the charity sector.