Inspirational figures receive honorary degrees from the University of Birmingham
Three inspiring individuals received their awards from University of Birmingham Chancellor Sandie Okoro OBE.
Chancellor Dr Robert Jones and his honorary Doctor of the University award with (from left) Professor Reitumetse Obakeng Mabokela, Associate Chancellor and Vice Provost for Global Affairs & Strategies; Dr. Lynn Hassan Jones, MD; University of Birmingham Chancellor Sandie Okoro OBE; and Dr. Sammer Jones, Director for Global Relations University of Illinois.
A Grammy award-winning University Chancellor, a charity leader and a high-profile expert in psychiatry have been awarded honorary doctorates from the University of Birmingham.
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Chancellor Dr Robert Jones, psychiatrist Dr Aggrey Burke, and Birmingham alumna and CEO of the Felix Project Charlotte Hill, were presented with their awards by University of Birmingham Chancellor Sandie Okoro OBE.
Chancellor Jones received a Doctor of the University, returning to campus after visiting in April to commemorate a decade of the BRIDGE Alliance between the University of Illinois and Birmingham. At that time the two universities announced additional investment in the partnership of $400,000 per year to establish strategic research and education collaboration with the Global South, focusing on global health, sustainability, and education access and equity.
I am truly honoured and humbled to be recognized with an honorary doctorate from the University of Birmingham. I have said many times that being the tenth chancellor of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign has been the most profound experience of my career in higher education, and that is thanks to the many opportunities I’ve had in this role to support groundbreaking research, foster meaningful partnerships, and enhance educational innovation—including with our partners at the University of Birmingham.
The BRIDGE Alliance—which stands for the Birmingham-Illinois Partnership for Discovery, Engagement and Education—already boasts some 115 collaborative projects tackling major global challenges. Chancellor Jones’ visit was preceded by a QS Reimagining Awards Gala Dinner, in London, where the Alliance was shortlisted for a ‘Power of Partnerships’ award.
Chancellor Jones is an eminent leader in global higher education, with an illustrious career that dates to 1978. An accomplished scientist, and internationally respected authority on crop physiology, he is also an accomplished vocalist and was a member of the Grammy award-winning Sounds of Blackness, a Minnesota-based choral ensemble.
On receiving his honorary doctorate, Chancellor Jones said: “I am truly honoured and humbled to be recognized with an honorary doctorate from the University of Birmingham. I have said many times that being the tenth chancellor of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign has been the most profound experience of my career in higher education, and that is thanks to the many opportunities I’ve had in this role to support groundbreaking research, foster meaningful partnerships, and enhance educational innovation—including with our partners at the University of Birmingham.”
We are delighted to welcome all our honorary graduates to the University of Birmingham and recognise their contributions to making our world a better place to live. “In the tenth anniversary year of our partnership between Birmingham and Illinois, I would particularly like to thank Chancellor Jones for his vision and support in our creating an enduring bond representing all that is best in two great universities working together on exciting and transformational research collaborations between faculty colleagues.
University of Birmingham Vice-Chancellor and Principal Professor Adam Tickell said: “We are delighted to welcome all our honorary graduates to the University of Birmingham and recognise their contributions to making our world a better place to live.
“In the tenth anniversary year of our partnership between Birmingham and Illinois, I would particularly like to thank Chancellor Jones for his vision and support in our creating an enduring bond representing all that is best in two great universities working together on exciting and transformational research collaborations between faculty colleagues.”
University of Birmingham Political Science & Philosophy graduate and Alumna of the Year (2016), Charlotte Hill received a Doctor of the University. Ms Hill is CEO of The Felix Project - a food redistribution charity that in the last year has redistributed 12,000 tonnes of food – the equivalent of 29 million meals, across London. Before this, Charlotte was the Chief Executive Officer of BBC Children in Need, where she led transformative work on the coordination of the COVID-19 funding response for children and young people.
Alongside her Trustee role at the English Football League Trust, Charlotte is an RSA Fellow and a Board member of Westminster House Youth Club in her local area. In 2012 Charlotte received the award of “Rising CEO Star” at The Charity Times Awards. In 2019, Charlotte was awarded an OBE for services to young people at Windsor Castle.
Jamaican-born Dr Aggrey Burke received a Doctor of Medicine. Dr Burke studied medicine at the University of Birmingham and completed his psychotherapy and psychiatry training as a research fellow at the University. He wrote a series of papers on attempted suicide in immigrant Irish, West Indian and Asian people in Birmingham - comparing the rates to the local population and to that in the countries of origin of these groups.
He was later appointed senior lecturer in psychiatry at St George's Medical School in Tooting, London and is a Fellow of the Royal College of Psychiatrists. He remained at St George's until his retirement, following which he continues with work in psychiatry - writing on black mental health issues and assisting the General Medical Council.
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For more information, please contact Tony Moran, International Communications Manager, University of Birmingham, tel: +44 (0)121 414 2772
The University of Birmingham is ranked amongst the world’s top 100 institutions. Its work brings people from across the world to Birmingham, including researchers, teachers and more than 8,000 international students from over 150 countries.
The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign ranks consistently among the top 50 higher education institutions worldwide and is currently ranked #4 in Engineering/Technology and Computer Sciences in the 2015 Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU). Many of the technologies that enabled the modern electronic era were developed at Illinois, and the university has led the nation in NSF R&D awards for the last five years running. Illinois at is currently home to more than 12,000 international students and 1,500 international faculty and visiting scholars.
First formed in March 2014, the Birmingham-Illinois Partnership for Discovery, Engagement and Education (or simply, “BRIDGE”) was created as a framework for continued collaboration and investment between the two universities. BRIDGE has developed into each institution’s most significant transatlantic partnership with 115 faculty-to-faculty links, 110 jointly published articles, $1.1 million invested research funding, and an additional $5.4 million in external funding. BRIDGE is unique in its breadth and depth and involves collaboration across research, education and professional services and has involved over 100 faculty across all Colleges. The partnership also enhances the city of Birmingham’s sister city relationship with Chicago, Illinois, of more than 20 years.