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Honorary degrees to be awarded at Stirling graduations

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Graduation Stirling Nov 2012 More than 700 students will attend three graduation ceremonies in the Albert Halls, Stirling on 23 November when Honorary Degrees will be awarded to Dr Ranee Jayamaha, Ms Jean King and Senator Feargal Quinn.

The University Chancellor, broadcaster and journalist Dr James Naughtie, will preside over the graduation ceremonies, capping every one of the students as they receive their degree certificate.

View the live webcast 

The graduation ceremonies will take place as follows:

Ceremony one, 10am   

School of Education
Stirling Management School - Accounting, Finance and Economics

During the ceremony, Dr Ranee Jayamaha will receive the award of Doctor of the University in recognition of her outstanding contribution to central banking in Sri Lanka and internationally.

In 1976, Ranee Jayamaha was one of the first University of Stirling graduates in Master of Science in Economics. Her career has been exceptionally distinguished: she was Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka and has nearly 40 years’ experience in economics, banking, finance, regulation and administration.

Ranee Jayamaha has been a Member of the Securities and Exchange Commission of Sri Lanka, the Insurance Board of Sri Lanka and the National Payments Council and worked to provide basic banking facilities for civilians during and after the war.

On retiring in 2009, Ranee Jayamaha was appointed Advisor to His Excellency the President of Sri Lanka and, in March 2011, was appointed Chair of Hatton National Bank, the second largest private bank in Sri Lanka. 

Ranee Jayamaha has published numerous research papers and articles in domestic as well as international journals and is an Honorary Fellow of the Institute of Bankers of Sri Lanka.

Ceremony two, 12.30pm

School of Applied Social Science
School of Arts and Humanities
Stirling Management School - Business, Marketing and Management

Ms Jean King will receive the award of Doctor of the University in recognition of her outstanding contribution to the research output of the University of Stirling and world-wide cancer prevention.

As Director of Tobacco Control at Cancer Research UK (CRUK), Jean King has played a lead role in controlling tobacco use, driving forward the international agenda to build a coherent response to the toll from tobacco use across national boundaries, especially in Europe and sub-Saharan Africa. 

Within the UK, Jean was involved in the advertising ban campaign in the 1990s and, more recently, has worked to achieve comprehensive smokefree legislation.  The most recent campaign, pressing for plain packaging and a ban on point-of-sale displays and vending machines, has so far been successful.

Jean King has led CRUK’s commitment to funding academic research on tobacco control.  This resulted in the funding of the University’s Centre for Tobacco Control, a research unit that, since 1999, has built up evidence around key policy initiatives such as the tobacco advertising ban and smokefree public places.

Ceremony three, 3pm  

School of Nursing, Midwifery & Health
School of Natural Sciences
School of Sport

Senator Feargal Quinn will receive the award of Doctor of the University in recognition of his outstanding contribution to entrepreneurship, business and management.

A graduate in commerce from University College Dublin, Feargal Quinn opened his first Quinn’s supermarket in 1960, subsequently changing the name to Superquinn in the 1970s. 

He is a former President of EuroCommerce, the Brussels-based organisation which represents the retail, wholesale and international trade sectors in Europe.  Its membership includes over 100 commerce federations in twenty-seven European countries.

Feargal Quinn was first elected Senator in 1993. He was a member of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on European Affairs, the Joint Committee on Finance and Public Service, and the Oireachtas member of the National Economic and Social Forum.  Currently, he is a member of the Joint Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation.

He is the recipient of three honorary doctorates, the French Ordre National du Mérite and a Papal Knighthood.

Following each graduation ceremony, a Graduation Reception will be held in Pathfoot on the University campus.

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