Leading figures from the world of education, science, music and literature were celebrated at the University’s summer graduations in Paisley, by being awarded honorary doctorates.
The Chair of the Robertson Trust Mark Batho, who was also previously a Vice-Principal at Abertay University, was celebrated as part of a ceremony taking place at Paisley Abbey on Tuesday 2 July.
Mark Batho has been the Chair of The Robertson Trust since 2021, joining as a Trustee in 2017. The Trust is Scotland’s largest independent grant giver and, under its current strategy, disburses £25 million each year to help organisations in Scotland – mainly charities – in their work to address the causes and impact of poverty and trauma. As part of this work, it runs a scholarship scheme to support students from deprived backgrounds to enter and to thrive at university – a scheme which currently helps over 600 students in Scotland.
Mark retired in July 2020 from his post as Vice-Principal (University Services) at Abertay University where he was responsible for the main administrative and support services of the University. He also served for five years as the Chief Executive of the Scottish Further and Higher Education Funding Council, the body responsible for allocating public funding to Scotland’s universities and colleges; and before that he worked for nearly 30 years as a civil servant with his last role as the Director of Lifelong Learning for the Scottish Government – a position which shaped his continuing interest in post-16 education.
Before retiring, Mark had served on the governing bodies of several diverse organisations, including Creative Skillset, the Royal Scottish National Orchestra and the Scottish Association of Marine Science.
Environmental scientist and former broadcaster Dr Hermione Cockburn, who was awarded an OBE in 2020 for services to public engagement in science, was celebrated as part of a ceremony taking place at Paisley Abbey on Wednesday 3 July.
Dr Cockburn began her career at the University of Edinburgh researching landscape change in Africa and Antarctica. She then completed a post doctorate at the University of Melbourne.
For the past 20 years, she has worked exclusively in science communication and presented television series like Coast, Rough Science, Fossil Detectives: Discovering Prehistoric Britain and The Nature of Britain for the BBC. She has also presented Radio 4 documentaries on subjects ranging from lead pollution to lasers, as well as an award-winning series on bacteria.
Dr Cockburn taught environmental science for the Open University for many years and is passionate about life-long learning. Her most recent role as the Scientific Director at Dynamic Earth in Edinburgh saw her lead the charity’s mission that focuses on empowering people with understanding and empathy for the planet.
Recently, she led a major ocean literacy project about Scotland’s deep sea, collaborating closely with marine scientists from across the UK. She is a Trustee of the Association of Science and Discovery Centres, a fellow of The Royal Society of Edinburgh, and an honorary fellow of the Royal Scottish Geographical Society.
One half of the famous musical duo, Gallagher and Lyle, Benny Gallagher, originally from Largs, was celebrated as part of a ceremony taking place at Paisley Abbey on Thursday 4 July.
Between 1998 and 2002, Benny Gallagher was the primary driving force behind the SMART school concept (Scottish Music and Recording Technology school), which he developed with South Ayrshire Council and Scottish Enterprise. The project led to UWS (then University of Paisley) successfully bidding to be the academic partner and set up the BA (Hons) Commercial Music course. As a direct result, the programme has been running since 2001 and continues to recruit healthily and has produced more than 1,000 graduates.
Benny Gallagher was hired as an in-house songwriter for the Beatles independent music company Apple Corps in the late 1960’s. He then worked with Faces bassist Ronnie Lane before progressing to be a founding member of McGuinness Flint and Gallagher and Lyle with Graham Lyle, who later wrote “What’s Love Got To Do With It” for Tina Turner. Gallagher and Lyle released five albums including the Gold-selling Breakaway in 1976 featuring the top 10 singles “I Wanna Stay With You” and “Heart On My Sleeve”. The album, which also charted in the U.S., included songs which went on to be Number One hits for Art Garfunkel and Don Williams. He has since worked with the reformed Mannfred Mann and performed solo (and with Graham Lyle) throughout a 50+ year career to date.
In the 1990’s Gallagher co-founded and served as Chairman of the royalties campaigning body PAMRA, which was set up to ensure that musicians received a fair share of royalties from recordings and performances thus protecting the rights and income of hundreds of thousands of UK musicians. Through PAMRA, he has represented UK musicians on a global stage, pushing for recognition and income streams for musicians internationally. Now in his 70’s, he continues to support education and welfare for musicians.
Anaesthetist turned novelist Dr Marisa Haetzman, one of Scotland’s literary rising stars, was celebrated as part of a ceremony taking place at Paisley Abbey on Friday 5 July.
Dr Haetzman is a historical novelist who has used her medical career, advanced study, and passion for history to become a successful writer. Following completion of her medical degree at the University of Glasgow, during which she won the Hunter Medal for Pharmacology, she graduated in 1990 and practiced in Glasgow, London, Edinburgh and Aberdeen.
A Member of the Royal College of Physicians and a Fellow of the Royal College of Anaesthetists, she was a consultant anaesthetist for 10 years before returning to her alma mater to undertake a master’s degree in the history of medicine. She became fascinated by the life and work of Dr James Young Simpson, the Edinburgh physician and obstetrician who discovered the anaesthetic effects of chloroform in 1847.
This interest in the medicine of the past led to a successful collaboration with crime writer, and husband, Christopher Brookmyre (under the pseudonym Ambrose Parry) resulting in a series of historical crime novels set in nineteenth century Edinburgh.
This collaboration has now resulted in four novels dealing with wide-ranging themes from women’s place in education and wider society to the tension between altruism and ambition in the practice of medicine. The first three books were shortlisted for the McIlvanney Prize for Scottish Crime Book of the Year. The most recent books in the series, A Corruption of Blood and Voices of the Dead were both shortlisted for the CWA Historical Dagger.
Their partnership has recently extended its reach to include scriptwriting, with the Ambrose Parry novels and Brookmyre’s The Cut being adapted for television.
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