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JRF - Julia Unwin Receives Honorary Doctorate
Chief Executive of the Joseph Rowntree Foundation Julia Unwin CBE, is to be awarded an Honorary Doctorate from the University of South Wales on Monday 14 April, as part of the University’s celebrations to welcome its new Chancellor Lord (Rowan) Williams.
Lord Williams’s first duties as Chancellor are to award honorary doctorates, not only to Julia Unwin, but also to Wales’s First Minister, the Rt Hon Carwyn Jones AM, Wales’s national rugby coach Warren Gatland and the Honourable Mrs Justice Nicola Davies, Presiding Judge for Wales.
Speaking about her award public policy expert Julia Unwin said, “It is a great honour both for me and for the Joseph Rowntree Foundation to be part of the next stage in the development of the University of South Wales. The University provides people of all ages with the opportunity to improve their skills and engage with lifelong learning, and of course, be part of the community in south Wales. What is more, it develops a centre of expertise, of knowledge and of skills that will enrich us all, and provide us with an even better opportunity to respond to.
“Universities are of course centres of learning. But they are also the well spring of research. They offer us trained staff, whether managing care homes, building new eco-friendly housing, or designing alternative ways of responding to disability and dementia, making sure we publish and communicate in a way that people can hear.
“Universities teach independence, self-discipline and financial management. They enrich people’s ability to plan, to communicate, to focus. Students learn to dream, to aim high, to imagine a better world. We all need to be reminded about what matters to us, and what we are good at.”
Vice-Chancellor of the University of South Wales Professor Julie Lydon said, “The installation of a Chancellor is, of course, a moment of great academic ceremony, but it is also a fundamental reassertion of our values. As part of this celebration, it is important that we are able to honour the work of some outstanding individuals, and we are privileged to make this award to Julia Unwin for her work in influencing public policy and campaigning for charity.”
