Dr Sarah Waters

Doctor of Letters (honoris causa)

Dr Sarah Waters is one of Britain’s best-known authors of historical fiction and is an alumna of Lancaster, having graduated with an MA in Contemporary Literary Studies in 1988. She is the author of six highly acclaimed novels, including Tipping the Velvet (1998), which won the Betty Trask Award and Affinity (1999), which won the Somerset Maugham Award.  Both of these novels have been adapted for BBC television.  She has been three times shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize.  In 2003, she received the South Bank Award for Literature, and in 2009 was elected to the Royal Society of Literature. 

Dame Louise Casey DBE, CBE

Doctor of Laws (honoris causa)

Dame Louise Casey is a senior civil servant working at the highest levels of government, and has had a distinguished career as a leader in the charities sector.  She was Deputy Director of the homelessness charity Shelter, before joining the Civil Service in 1999.  She has served four Prime Ministers in various roles, including Director General of the Troubled Families Team at the Department for Communities and Local Government and Director of the Home Office’s Anti-Social Behaviour Unit.  She recently published the Casey Review of social integration and opportunity.  In 2016, she was appointed a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) for services to families and vulnerable people. 

Professor Miles Carroll

Doctor of Science (honoris causa)

Miles Carroll invented the cancer vaccine, TroVax, then joined Public Health England as Head of Research at Porton Down in 2008.  His department leads research into emerging diseases, their prevention and treatment.  He has served as an advisor to industry and international governments on infectious disease research.  His work with the European Mobile Laboratory played a critical role in the fight against Ebola in West Africa.

He gained his PhD from the University of Manchester, followed by an International Fogarty Fellowship to the US National Institutes of Health and he has authored almost 100 papers. 

Professor Jacky Hayden CBE

Doctor of Science (honoris causa)

Professor Hayden is President of the Academy of Medical Educators.  She was formerly Dean of Postgraduate Medical Studies in Health Education North West and in that role was a major supporter of the establishment of Lancaster Medical School.  She has made a significant contribution to the continuous improvement of the quality of postgraduate medical training across the UK and in the development of leadership capability in doctors.  A GP by background, she was a member of the Council of the Royal College of General Practitioners for more than 25 years.  She was awarded a CBE in 2013 for services to medical education. 

The Rt Hon Sir Ernest Ryder

Doctor of Laws (honoris causa)

The Rt Hon Sir Ernest Ryder is one of the country’s most senior and distinguished judges.  He is a Lord Justice of Appeal and is also Senior President of Tribunals and, as such, is responsible for the strategic leadership of the Tribunal judiciary.  Called to the Bar in 1991, he was made Queen’s Counsel in 1997 and appointed a judge of the High Court in 2004.  He is also a commissioned officer in the Territorial Army, serving with the Duke of Lancaster’s Own Yeomanry.  He is from Bolton, and is currently Chancellor of Bolton University.  

Professor Maureen Raymo

Doctor of Science (honoris causa)

Maureen Raymo, an American marine geologist and palaeoclimatologist, is a Research Professor at the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Columbia University, whose research focuses on solving planetary-scale questions regarding the evolution of Earth's climate. She famously contributed to development of the 'Uplift Weathering Hypothesis'; mountain uplift causing increased rock weathering rates and removal of atmospheric carbon dioxide, in turn causing climate cooling. Her work has been recognised by prestigious awards and honours. She is the 5th most-cited earth scientist in the world, with nearly 20,000 citations. In 2014, she was the first woman to receive the Wollaston Medal, the highest honour of the Geological Society of London, and the Milankovitch Medal at the European Geosciences Union. In 2016, she was elected a Fellow of the American Geophysical Union.