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29 Mar 2007 15:11:06
Lord Lieutenant for Bedfordshire honoured
The first University of Bedfordshire graduation ceremonies of 2007 took place on Friday (30 March), with an Honorary Doctor of Laws being awarded to Sam Whitbread, Lord Lieutenant for Bedfordshire.
More than 400 students were presented with postgraduate degrees from the University of Bedfordshire Business School, the Faculty of Creative Arts, Technologies and Science, and the Faculty of Health and Social Sciences, at St Mary’s Church in Luton.
Vice Chancellor Professor Les Ebdon said: “I was very proud to congratulate the graduates, who have all worked extremely hard to receive their post-graduate degrees.
“We also awarded an honorary degree to the Lord Lieutenant for Bedfordshire, the Queen’s representative, a well-known figure in the local community and highly successful businessman, who no doubt inspired the students.”
Mr Whitbread was Director of Whitbread plc from nearly 30 years, from 1972 to 2001, and Chairman from 1984 to 1992. He also served as a Director of the Whitbread Investment Company for 16 years and of the Sun Alliance Group for three years.
He was High Sheriff of Bedfordshire from 1972 - 73, and has served as Lord Lieutenant for Bedfordshire for the past 16 years. He is patron of more than 20 local charities.
During the ceremony, special awards of achievement were presented to two students. The Marilyn Barton Memorial Prize, which is awarded annually to a student who has returned to education via the access course route, went to Pat Beagle. The 49-year-old, who works as an Assessment and Timetabling Manager at the University, studied a BA (Hons) in Business Administration.
Everton Paisley received the Sir Ian Dixon Memorial Prize, for the best student on a professional management course who has followed a non traditional route of study.
The 54-year-old returned to education 13 years ago whilst working as a Detective Sergeant for Bedfordshire Police. During that time he gained various qualifications including a Certificate in Education, Certificate in Professional Police Studies, Master of Arts in Adult Learning and Teaching and a First Class Honours Degree in Law from the University of Bedfordshire.
In 2004 he left the police force and started working at Redborne Upper School and Community College, in Ampthill, teaching Law, Leisure and Tourism and also began studying an LLM in Commercial Law at the University. In the final year of his course he became head of department and managed to juggle a demanding work schedule and studying to gain his qualification.
To learn more about studying at the University visit www.beds.ac.uk/courses
Latest news» 2007» Mar» 2007 Graduation Ceremonies get under way
