The University of Glasgow will confer honorary degrees on writer AL Kennedy, Chief Medical Officer Harry Burns and mathematician Keith Moffatt during the winter graduation ceremonies.

The graduands achievements and the date they will receive their honorary degrees are as follows:

AL Kennedy (Doctor of Letters) – Wed 28 Nov, 11am

One of Scotland’s foremost authors, AL Kennedy has won numerous awards for her novels and short story collections including the Saltire Society First Book of the Year Award, the Mail on Sunday/John Llewellyn Rhys Prize and the Encore Award. She has also been nominated for the Costa Novel Award 2007.

Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and the Royal Society of Arts, Kennedy also wrote the Channel 4 Screenplay Stella Does Tricks and in 2003 was nominated by Granta Magazine as one of the 20 Best Young British Novelists.

Other literary projects include her work with arts and special needs charity Project Ability, review writing for the Scotsman, Herald and Daily Telegraph and judging nominations for the Booker Prize for Fiction and the Guardian First Book Prize.

Professor Keith Moffatt (Doctor of Science) – Thur 29 Nov, 11am

An internationally important figure in the field of mathematics, Keith Moffatt, Emeritus Professor of Mathematical Physics at the University of Cambridge, has also held the positions of Director of the Isaac Newton Institute for Mathematical Sciences in Cambridge, editor of the Journal of Fluid Mechanics and President of the International Union of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics. He is also a foreign member of the French Académie des Sciences and a Fellow of the American Physical Society.

With his interests focused on the area of fluid dynamics, Professor Moffatt has published more than 100 papers on the subject. He was elected Fellow of the Royal Society in 1986 and Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 1988.

Dr Harry Burns (Doctor of Science) – Fri 30 Nov, 11am

Chief Medical Officer for Scotland , Dr Harry Burns is the Scottish Government’s principal medical adviser. Having worked as a general and consultant surgeon for 21 years, Dr Burns is involved in the development of health policy in Scotland, including prevention, health promotion, health protection and harm reduction. As CMO he also has led responsibility for issues such as clinical effectiveness, quality assurance, accreditation and research.

In 1999 he was awarded a Visiting Professorship in Public Health Medicine at the University of Glasgow and is also a Senior Research Fellow in the School of Business and Management.

Notes to editors

Journalists and photographers are invited to attend the graduation ceremonies where the graduands will receive their honorary degrees. Please contact Kate Richardson in the University of Glasgow’s Media Relations Office on 0141 330 3683 or email K.Richardson@admin.gla.ac.uk if you wish to attend.

First published: 27 November 2007

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