Award ceremonies highlight BU achievements

8 November 2011

BU Pro-Chancellor, Dame Yvonne Moores, wiith Honorary Graduate, Dr Brian Astin

The School of Applied Sciences gets BU’s Award Ceremonies for 2011 underway.

The School of Applied Sciences took centre stage as Bournemouth University opened its annual Award Ceremonies for 2011.

The ceremonies, underway at the Bournemouth International Centre, will see some 4,500 graduates from 106 countries receive their diplomas, degrees and other qualifications over four days. The event is supported by the Dorset-based Band of the Royal Corps of Signals.

The proceedings were officially opened by University Pro-Chancellor Dame Yvonne Moores who congratulated the graduates and praised their academic success.

“It’s really wonderful to celebrate your success,” Dame Yvonne enthused. “We set very high standards at BU which requires determination, good work and dedicated effort.”

“I know that you’ve done just that and I’m sure you will agree that it’s with the support of family, friends and loved ones who are very proud of you and I know you feel proud of your achievements too,” she continued.

“You have all been privileged to have this education and to obtain the degrees that you have, but many in the world do not even have a basic education. My own work with Poole Hospital and this University in South Sudan is one example. A population with little food, little clean water and very very little access to health care.”

Honorary Doctorate

Former BU academic, Dr Brian Astin, was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Education during the ceremony for his long and outstanding service to BU.

Dr Astin has given long and outstanding service to BU, which he joined as a Chemistry lecturer in 1990. He quickly moved to senior roles in the School of Applied Sciences, later becoming its Dean and ultimately the University’s Pro-Vice-Chancellor Education. BU’s progressive and contemporary curriculum owes much to his leadership.

Dr Astin thanked the University and offered his fellow graduates some advice. “As graduates of Bournemouth University, you have acquired many subject specific skills, and these skills are important in securing the first rung on the career ladder. The most important attribute a graduate can take into the world is the ability to think for themselves.”