Honorary graduates
Published 3 February 2012
More than 1,800 students will be receiving their awards this year from the university on Thursday 9 and Friday 10 February. Also receiving awards will be three honorary graduates:
Nick Cave
The Australian musician and writer, Nick Cave, is to be awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Brighton.
The Hove-based counter-culture icon is internationally renowned for his intense lyrics, language and music that have also come together in successful film scores, screen writing and novels, the most recent, The Death of Bunny Munro, published in 2009 and set in and around Brighton.
He will receive a Doctor of Letters on Thursday 9 February in recognition of his international standing in the arts and his patronage of Cine-City, the annual Brighton Film Festival, co-presented by the university's Faculty of Arts.
Anne Boddington, Dean of the faculty, said: "We are fortunate that Nick Cave is not only resident in the city, but has chosen to contribute to its creative life as a performer, musician and singer, as a writer and as a patron of Cine-City."
Helen Boaden
An honorary doctorate will be presented on Thursday to the BBC's Director of News, Helen Boaden, in recognition of the support she has given to budding young media and journalism students over many years.
Helen, who is the first woman to hold the position of Director of BBC News, studied English at the University of Sussex, where she was taught by the Deputy Vice-Chancellor of the University of Brighton, Professor Stuart Laing.
She has been a strong supporter of the Broadcast Media Centre at the University of Brighton in Hastings since its inception in 2006 and has given lectures to its students as well as advice on how to organise visits to various parts of BBC News.
Professor Laing said: "Helen has been incredibly generous with her time and her knowledge and expertise in encouraging young, unconfident students to develop and flourish in the media profession."
Michael Rosen
The popular children's author, Michael Rosen, is to be awarded an honorary doctorate from the university on Friday 10 February.
Michael was Children's Laureate from 2007 to 2009. He will be awarded with a Doctor of Letters in recognition for his writing and broadcasting on children's literature, his lectures on the same subject at universities across the UK and his huge contribution to engaging children in reading.
Michael is author of the classic picture book "We're going on a bear hunt" which won the Nestlé Smarties Grand Prize in 1989. The English Association awarded "Michael Rosen's Sad Book", illustrated by Quentin Blake, an Exceptional Award for the Best Children's Illustrated Book of 2004. He has received numerous other awards for his literature and has written for both adults and children. He is equally at home talking to children as presenting his BBC Radio 4's magazine programme "Word of Mouth" which focuses on the English Language and its use.
Lorraine Harrison, head of the School of Education, said: "His skills and talents cover a wide audience. Michael is equally at home performing his own work to groups of primary school children, as well as discussing the complexities of English on Radio 4. Above all, his passion for poetry and a fundamental interest in young people and their education make him a popular contributor to conferences, sixth form colleges, libraries, schools and universities."
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