The University of Sunderland will be holding huge graduation ceremonies this summer at the Stadium of Light. The university’s Academic Awards are expected to bring a cool £1 million into the city and its surrounding region.
The summer graduation ceremonies – which will take place from July 10th to 14th – will see almost 3,000 graduates presented with their degree certificates. Around 9,000 people are expected to attend.
The graduates will get to shake hands with the likes of athlete Steve Cram and ITV news presenter Alastair Stewart when receiving their awards.
The University of Sunderland will also hand out a number of honorary degrees as part of its summer graduation ceremonies.
Those lined up to receive honorary degrees include Vera star Brenda Blethyn and Eaglescliffe-born Felicity Finch, who has voiced the BBC radio soap character of Ruth Archer for 30 years.
Honorary degrees will also be presented to Ken Bremner, CEO of City Hospitals Sunderland, and Heidi Mottram, CEO of Northumbria Water.
Sunderland graduate Dr Andrew Singleton, who is Chief of the Laboratory of Neurogenetics in the National Institute of Ageing, USA, will be awarded an honorary degree, as will the director of Kielder Observatory, Gary Fildes.
All set for #Graduation next week? Remember to tag your ? with #Hawaythegrads to be featured in our online gallery. https://t.co/KH75XYjALS pic.twitter.com/Xp2QaPYtCu
— SunderlandUniversity (@sunderlanduni) July 3, 2017
Shirley Atkinson, the university’s vice-chancellor, said, “This year is a very special one for Sunderland as it marks the 25th anniversary of the foundation of the University of Sunderland in 1992, following on from 100 years of successful delivery of higher education in the city.”
“We are very proud to continue our lifechanging work with the class of 2017, who, alongside all of our graduates, make a huge difference to our region and to wider society.”
Ms Atkinson added, “We are proud to pay tribute to our honoraries at this year’s graduation ceremonies. They have all made a significant impact in their chosen careers and will be a tremendous inspiration to our graduates.”
(Featured image courtesy of Derek Springer, from Flickr Creative Commons)
