The University of the West of Scotland will honour leading individuals from Scotland and overseas at a Special Ceremony on Friday 7 December 2007. They will be first to receive awards from the newly renamed University.

The event, which is part of ongoing celebrations to commemorate the University’s merger with Bell College on 1 August this year, will mark the formal inauguration of the University of the West of Scotland. The University of Paisley became known as University of the West of Scotland (UWS) on 30 November 2007, in a move which acknowledged the University’s recent development and its ambitious plans for the future.

The University’s merger with Bell College earlier in the year created a four-campus, regional University with campuses in Ayr, Dumfries, Hamilton and Paisley. It has over 18,000 students, including the country’s largest School of Health, Nursing and Midwifery, with almost 5,000 students.

The ceremony will be presided over by Chancellor of the University, Sir Robert Smith. The University will present four Honorary Degrees of Doctor of the University at the event:

Mr Alan Johnston, former BBC Gaza Correspondent. Alan Johnston, who has an MA in English and Politics, joined the BBC in 1991 as a Sub-Editor in the World Service Newsroom before becoming the BBC’s Correspondent in Tashkent from 1993 to 1995. He was the BBC Kabul Correspondent from 1997 to 1998. He then returned to London and the BBC World Service before taking up his three-year posting to Gaza in 2004, where he reported for all BBC outlets. Just two weeks before his contract was due to end, Alan was kidnapped and held for nearly four months by a Jihadi organisation called the Army of Islam. He was eventually freed unharmed on 4 July 2007 and subsequently recuperated with his family in the West of Scotland.

Professor Chris Gorman OBE, Leading Entrepreneur. Chris Gorman OBE, who is an Honorary Professor of the University, was co-founder of DX Communications, a company that grew from a turnover of £100,000 to £70 million in four years. He went on to found Reality, one of the first Internet companies. Most recently Gorman starred as a business mentor to budding entrepreneurs on the Channel 4 programme, ‘Make Me a Million’.

Professor Guo Wenli, President, Beijing Institute of Petrochemical Technology (BIPT). Professor Guo, was appointed President of Beijing Institute of Petrochemical Technology (BIPT), which is a ‘partner’ institution of the University of the West of Scotland, in July 2005. Prior to this, from 1998 to 2005, she held the post of Vice President of BIPT. She is a member of the Higher Education Evaluation Centre in the Ministry of China and the Advisory Committee of the Education of China. In 2004 she received the Award of innovation of Higher Education from the Beijing government.

Mr Paul Martin, Chief Nursing Officer (CNO), Scottish Government, Health Department. Paul Martin has held the post of CNO since 2004 and provides advice on all matters relating to nursing, midwifery and the allied health professions. He also has responsibility for leading the education arrangements for Scotland’s nurses and midwives, as well as leading and engaging on policy development ensuring nursing, midwifery and allied health professions’ contribution is focused and recognised. In addition to holding the demanding role of CNO, Paul Martin also holds the post of Interim Director of Workforce at the Scottish Government’s Health Department.

Professor Seamus McDaid, Principal and Vice Chancellor of the University of the West of Scotland, said: “We are delighted to honour these important individuals who have each made, and continue to make, hugely important contributions, not only to Scotland, but internationally. It is fitting that those who are first to receive academic awards from the University of the West of Scotland reflect the inspirational core values that our future development is based on. This event is hugely significant as it marks the formal inauguration of the University of the West of Scotland and celebrates our recent merger, which has seen us become Scotland’s largest modern university.”

The ceremony will include a number of speeches to mark the occasion, including an address from Alan Johnston, who will make a response on behalf of all the Honorary Doctorate recipients, and Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning, Fiona Hyslop. The event will also feature specially commissioned music entitled Scotland by Howard Blake OBE as well as James McMillan’s ‘The Gallant Weaver’, which was specially commissioned by the University to mark its centenary in 1997.