Honorary degrees

Kingston University

Doctorates: Marilyn Butler, rector of Exeter College, Cambridge; Philip Crossland, former managing director of Chubb & Son plc; Stuart Hampson, chairman, John Lewis Partnership; Sergei Kolesnikov, director of the Institute of Paediatrics and Human Production, Irkutsk, Eastern Siberia; Sergiy Komisarenko, Ukraine's ambassador to the UK; Alison Norman, director of primary care and executive director of nursing for North Staffordshire Combined Healthcare NHS Trust; David Potter, founder of Psion Computers; John Williams, former director of diagnostic radiology, St George's Hospital NHS Trust; David Youlton, chairman and chief executive of Snell and Wilcox.

University of Brighton

DLitt: Ron Dearing, chancellor of the University of Nottingham, chair of the National Committee of Inquiry into Higher Education, former chairman of the School Curriculum and Assessment Authority.

Rose Bruford College, University of Manchester

LLD: Jeremy Isaacs, general director of the Royal Opera House (1988-97), chief executive of Jeremy Isaacs Productions, in recognition of his contribution to British television and opera and for his support of the college's opera studies degree.

UMIST

DSc: Joe Dwek, non-executive chairman of Bodycote International, recent chairman of the North West CBI and past president of the UMIST Association; R. Gregory, emeritus professor of neuropsychology, Bristol University and founder of the "exploratory" Science Museum in Bristol and the journal Perception.

DEng: G. Hewitt, professor of chemical engineering, Imperial College and winner of the Max Jacob Award (1995) presented by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers; Roger Kingsley, past president of the Institution of Chemical Engineers, former managing director of Lankro Chemicals Group Ltd and the first chairman of UMIST Ventures Ltd.

Universiteit Utrecht

Doctorate: Brenda Almond, professor of moral and social philosophy at the University of Hull, who works together with Utrecht philosophers in the Societas Ethica and the centre for bioethics and health law.

For further infromation see NetGazette http://www.thesis.co.uk