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Lord Sebastian Coe KBE, Christine Ohuruogu MBE, Mark Hunter MBE and Sunand Prasad awarded Honorary Doctorates by the University of East London

Friday 6 November 2009

Interview: Lord Coe
Duration: 4:13
Date: 06 November 09

Former Olympic champion and current LOCOG Chair, Lord Sebastian Coe has been awarded an Honorary Doctor of Science by the University of East London (UEL) at the awards ceremony for the Schools of Architecture and the Visual Arts and Health and Bioscience at London’s Barbican Hall today.

Lord Coe was honoured along with current Olympians 400m champion Christine Ohuruogu MBE and leading lightweight gold medallist rower, Mark Hunter. Over five hundred graduates also celebrated their academic success with their friends and family on Thursday 5 November.

Christine Ohuruogu and Sunand Prasad were awarded the Honorary Doctor of Art and Mark Hunter was awarded the Honorary Doctor of Science.

Lord Rix, Chancellor of UEL personally awarded degrees, diplomas and certificates to every graduate and conferred awards to all three honoraries in recognition of their sporting achievement and huge contributions to public life.

In her opening speech to the graduates, UEL’s Acting Vice-Chancellor, Professor Susan Price, said: "I congratulate you all and hope you are ready to seize new opportunities. East London is an exciting place to be right now and UEL wants to inspire young people. We have ambitious plans for the future and wherever your path leads, we wish you the best success."

Lord Sebastian Coe has previously been Chairman of the London 2012 bid company. He is considered to be among the greatest middle distance runners for the 800m and 1500m event. He won the gold medal in 1980 in the 1500m and silver in the 800m at both the Moscow and the Los Angeles 1984 Games and set eight outdoor and three indoor world records. Addressing the graduates, Lord Coe said: "This university is playing such a large part in the community and the delivery of the Games. These are the communities that help us deliver the games and an extraordinary legacy. It is with great pleasure and delight that I accept this award today."

Commonwealth and Olympic 400m champion, Christine Ohuruogu won the 50th gold medal for Great Britain in Athletics at the Beijing Games in 2008 and her personal best of 49.61 ranks her third amongst British 400m runners. She was born in Newham and raised less than a mile from the London 2012 Olympic stadium. In her acceptance speech, Christine said: "I’ve been recognised internationally yet it’s more special when it’s in your local community. It’s great to see you all graduate and take your skills to use outside where the world needs you."

Mark Hunter has continuously topped the Rowing World Cup series in recent years and was a gold medallist at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. He started rowing aged 14 at Poplar Blackwall and District Rowing Club. In 2001, he established himself as a leading rower in the lightweight arena. Mark Hunter said: "I would like to thank UEL as I feel privileged to be here. London 2012’s going to be amazing."

Sunand Prasad was President of the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) from 2007 to 2009. In 2008, he was voted 26th in the Independent’s top 100 environmentalists list for his contribution towards a number of projects designed to focus the energies of the profession to address climate change. He said: "The most important moment is when you discover what you want to do and UEL can definitely contribute towards that."

The ceremony concluded with a vote of thanks from Taiwo Sodeyi, who graduated with a BSc in Sport and Exercise Science.

UEL's School of Architecture and the Visual Arts opened in 2004 by Turner Prize-winning artist Grayson Perry. It has purpose-built studios and workshops, together with impressive exhibition space.

The School of Health and Bioscience at Stratford is an innovative School offering a wide range of undergraduate, postgraduate and research programmes in scientific, medical and health subjects. It also has the Centre for Clinical Education which includes the London Centre for Podiatric Education – one of the finest facilities of its kind in the UK.

In total, around 2,500 UEL students are graduating this year and this graduation ceremony is the second of six taking place for UEL.

Dean of School Prizewinners for some programmes from both Schools:

Mark Thomas, 31, from Essex won the Registrar’s Prize and graduated with a BSc (Hons) in Sport and Exercise Science. He is a Performance Analyst for West Ham United Ladies first team. Mark said: "Getting a First Class Honours at UEL has been one of the highlights of my life. The highlight of my time at UEL is devising and carrying through to the end of my dissertation, learning critical thinking, making friends for life and doing the best I could! This degree has enabled me to gain valuable experience at a Premier League Football Club and hopefully a future in a field I feel passionately about, Sport."

Sophie Napper, 24, from Essex graduated with a BSc (Hons) in Podiatric Medicine. She won the Galderma and Pattern Makers prizes for best clinical performance by a podiatric medicine student. Sophie is also a Podiatrist. She said: "I’m delighted to get a First and have now started work in the NHS and the private sector. UEL’s teaching was an excellent standard and the brand new-state-of-the-art on site clinic was a pleasure in which to learn my podiatric skills. I also enjoyed the clinical placements arranged by the university, based in hospitals and health centres all over London."

Rona Frances Albanez, 40, from Islington graduated with a BSc (Hons) in Podiatric Medicine and is a specialist Podiatrist. Rona said: "I am extremely happy about getting a first in my degree and pleased to have my family from New Zealand and Canada here to celebrate this special occasion. My highlights at UEL include winning the clinical award in level two and receiving the Programme Leaders prize given for my contribution to promoting the podiatry programme."

Seema Uddin, 24, from East Croydon graduated with a BA (Hons) in Fashion Design with Marketing and won the Subject Director’s Prize for Fashion Textiles. Seema said: "The Marketing side of my degree was brilliant and set me up for the internship that I am currently doing at Harvey Nichols."

Notes to Editors

The University of East London (UEL) is a global learning community with over 28,000 students from over 120 countries world-wide. Our vision is to achieve recognition, both nationally and internationally, as a successful and inclusive regional university proud of its diversity, committed to new modes of learning which focus on students and enhance their employability, and renowned for our contribution to social, cultural and economic development, especially through our research and scholarship. We have a strong track-record in widening participation and working with industry.

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