Graduations on Thursday 5 July

MORNING

Mr James McGill Currie , Director-General responsible for the Environment and Nuclear Safety in the European Commission and Professor Joseph Stiglitz, former Senior Vice President of Development Economics and Chief Economist at the World Bank, will receive honorary degrees from the University of Glasgow at the morning graduation ceremony at 11am on Thursday 5 July.

Mr Currie, a University of Glasgow graduate from Kilmarnock, has held many important positions in the European Community and has served in an ambassadorial role to the USA. In 1997 he became the Director-General at the EC responsible for the Environment and Nuclear Safety.

Former adviser to Bill Clinton, Prof Stiglitz is one of the third world's strongest advocates on the global stage. He is a well known critic of the International Monetary Fund and the US Treasury Department, which he blames for deepening the problems of many third world countries. He continues to argue for more openness in IMF decision making.

Contributing to academic thought, Prof Stiglitz, now The Joan Kenney Professor of Economics at Stanford University, has written several text books and is associated with the establishment of a new branch of economics, "The Economics of Information" and the pioneering concepts of "adverse selection".

Mr Currie will give the address to the graduates at the end of the ceremony.

ﾕ The Adam Smith prize for the Faculty of Social Sciences will be awarded to Fraser McNeill during the ceremony.

AFTERNOON

The University of Glasgow will confer the honorary degree of Doctor of Letters on Magnus Magnusson and Professor Christopher Smout during the afternoon ceremony at 4pm on Thursday 5 July 2001.

Magnus Magnusson is to be honoured for his contribution to the Arts both as a presenter on radio and television and as a writer. He has done much to bring the history and nature of Scotland alive and accessible in books such as The Treasures of Scotland; Scotland, the story of a Nation; Rum: Nature's Island and The Nature of Scotland, as well as writing a number of highly esteemed works on the Vikings, Archaeology, Northern Mythology, the Bible Lands, and translating the Icelandic sagas. He has worked tirelessly with the Ancient Monuments Board for Scotland, the National Museum of Scotland and Scottish Natural Heritage, of which he was Chairman.

Professor Christopher Smout is recognised for his authoritative research into both the social and environmental history of Scotland. The author of numerous publications in this field, the breadth of his work clearly reflects his fascination with this subject.

As Director for the Institute of Environmental History at the University of St Andrews his environmental interests have been forefronted with works such as: Scottish Woodland History and Nature Contested, while A History of the Scottish People 1560-1830 remains a classic thirty years after publication.

Appointed Historiographer to the Queen in Scotland in 1993 and receiving a CBE the following year, Professor Smout continues to publish and research.

ﾕ The Herkless prize for the Faculty of Arts will be awarded jointly to Sally Clark and Anne MacLeod during the ceremony.

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MORNING
? There will be a photocall in the East Quadrangle at 12.20 approx.

AFTERNOON
? There will be a photocall in the East Quadrangle at 5.20pm approx. ....

First published: 4 July 2001