Nottingham’s Stuart Broad bowled over by honorary degree from Nottingham Trent University
Nottingham Trent University (NTU) has announced the latest recipients of honorary degrees and alumni awards to be presented during graduation ceremonies at University Hall from 11th to 26th July.
By Sarah McLeod | Published on 9 July 2024
Categories: Press office;
A selection of those collecting an honorary degree include:
Stuart Broad – a former English cricketer who, with a career of 17 years, became one of England’s most successful bowlers ever, taking 604 test wickets in 167 matches, and winning four Ashes.
Stuart was born in Nottingham and, after signing his first full professional contract with Leicestershire in 2005, moved back to the county of his birth to sign for Nottinghamshire in 2008.
His contribution to English cricket was rewarded in 2010 when Wisden included Stuart as one of its five Cricketers of the Year.
Stuart announced his retirement from the sport following last year’s Ashes Series, and is now working with Sky Sports. He is also working with worldwide broadcasters, commentating on the SA20 in South Africa and the Indian Premier League. Stuart has written three books: Broadside, My World in Cricket and Broadly Speaking.
Neil Goulden - Neil graduated from Southampton University with a degree in Politics and Law before following a successful 36-year career in the leisure and hospitality sector.
He is now Chair of a number of organisations in the public and private sectors with a focus on social mobility and equality of opportunity through access to education, health, housing and employment.
Neil became a Governor of Nottingham Trent University in 2014, later taking on the role of Pro-Chancellor and Chair of the board from 2015 to 2023 and remains involved with the University as patron of the NTU “Success for All” Endowment Fund.
He is currently Chair of St Christopher’s Hospice in south-east London, Leonard Cheshire Disability and Ambitious about Autism.
Baroness Diana Warwick - Baroness Warwick is currently the Chair of Board for The Property Ombudsman and was awarded a life peerage in 1999 in recognition for her public service.
She was Chair of the National Housing Federation for seven years and Chair of the Human Tissue Authority until 2014. Before that, she was Chief Executive of Universities UK for 14 years where she led a body representing the executive heads of 130 universities, both nationally and internationally. Diana was a leading trade unionist for 20 years and subsequently Chief Executive of the Westminster Foundation for Democracy in the 1990s.
Diana was a Governor of Nottingham Trent University and Deputy Chair of Governors from 2014 until 2023 and has also held positions at organisations including the Nolan/Neill Committee on standards in public life, British Council, Commonwealth Institute and Voluntary Service Overseas.
Alex Farquharson – Alex is Director of Tate Britain, the leading museum for British art from the 16th Century to the present.
In 2023, he oversaw the first complete rehang of Tate’s Collection at Tate Britain in a decade. He also chairs the Turner Prize Jury, Britain’s foremost annual contemporary art prize.
Prior to Tate Britain, he was the founding Director of Nottingham Contemporary, which, since opening in 2009, has become one of the leading centres for contemporary art in the UK.
While his specialism is contemporary art, his exhibitions and programmes have often created dialogues between the art of today and historic and modern art.
As well as curating solo and group exhibitions, Alex has also taught and lectured widely, in particular on the Curating Contemporary Art MA at Royal College of Art. He has also often written for publications such as Frieze, Artforum and Art Monthly on both art and curating.
Carly Paoli
Carly Paoli - born in Mansfield of Anglo-Italian parentage, Carly is a Classical Brit nominee and BBC Music Ambassador, having trained at the renowned Tring Park on a scholarship before gaining her BA at The Royal Northern College of Music.
Carly has performed in many iconic venues around the world, including Carnegie Hall, The Roman Forum, The Royal Albert Hall, The London Palladium and with many great artists across the music spectrum such as Andrea Bocelli, Elaine Paige and Michael Bolton.
She has also performed for royalty, most notably the now King and Queen at Windsor Castle and St James’ Palace and TRH The Prince and Princess of Wales as part of the televised ‘Royal Variety Performance.’
Carly was described by His Holiness Pope Francis as having, ‘the voice of an angel,’ when her version of ‘Ave Maria’ was adopted as the song for his Jubilee Year of Mercy and she is the recipient of many awards for her contribution to music and culture in Italy.
To date Carly has released five critically acclaimed albums, the latest ‘Carly Paoli; The Movie Collection featuring songs associated with well-loved films.
Jane Lewis - Jane is the Strategy and Commissioning Manager for Domestic and Sexual Violence and Abuse (DSVA) Against Women and Girls at Nottingham City Council.
She has led on this area at Nottingham City Council since 1999 and has done paid and unpaid work on the front line and within management committees for DVSA organisations in Nottingham and Nottinghamshire for more than 30 years.
In 2023, Jane received a special Prevention Award from the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner in recognition of her work in developing Nottingham and Nottinghamshire’s response to violence against women and girls.
Some of those collecting the University’s Awards for Outstanding Alumni and Outstanding Alumni Fellows include:
Alessandro Barcherini - Alessandro is the current Head of Goalkeeping at Sunderland AFC.
Born in Terni, Italy, his family moved to the UK when he was young and he grew up in Bilborough, Nottingham.
Alessandro started his career in football at 16 as a youth player at Notts County FC. After spending some time playing in the USA, he enrolled at Nottingham Trent University achieving a BSc(Hons) in Sport, Leisure & Outdoor Management and a Masters in Sports Science.
After graduation, he took on roles at the University as Performance Sport Officer and Head of Football, leaving in 2017 to take a full-time job at Notts County FC as Head of Academy Goalkeeping.
He worked at both Norwich City and Stoke City before being offered the 1st Team Assistant Goalkeeping Coach and Head of Academy Goalkeeping role at Leeds United in 2019.
After three successful years with Leeds, he moved to Sunderland AFC in 2022 and was appointed as the club’s first ever Head of Goalkeeping, a strategic and first team coaching role which would see him develop one of the youngest ever Goalkeeper cohorts in the EFL.
Joe and Laura Carey - Joe and Laura are the husband and wife team behind award-winning garden design company Carey Garden Design Studio.
The couple met during their studies at Nottingham Trent University (Joe – Design and Technology Education and Laura – Decorative Arts) and followed their own separate careers, Laura working for a high end marketing company and Joe as a teacher of Design and Technology, before setting up their garden design business in 2020.
They featured in Gardeners’ World in 2020 during the Covid pandemic, developing their own garden as their first project.
Three years later they Won a Gold Medal and Best in Show at RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2023 and were featured on BBC 1 Gardeners’ World. They were also listed in the Top 20 Garden Designers by Country and Town House Magazine in 2023/24 and went on to win House & Garden Magazine’s Rising Star Award in May this year.
Martin Rigley OBE - Martin is a chartered engineer, business leader, nationally recognised innovator, coach, business developer and place marketeer with over 40 years' experience.
Born, bred and educated in Nottinghamshire, Martin began his career at British Coal as a student apprentice, before retraining as an electrician and then engineer, studying Electrical and Electronic Engineering at NTU. His engineering career saw him work in collieries before running and later selling a successful company Lindhurst Engineering.
Martin was awarded an OBE for services to the East Midlands COVID-19 Response and to the community in Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire for his role in linking up manufacturing businesses and Local Resilience Forums (LRFs) to source donations of personal protective equipment (PPE) for frontline workers.
He now offers coaching and business development support for companies and is an Alumni Fellow at Nottingham Trent University, sharing his business acumen with students.
Martin also volunteers and has taken on chairmanship of the newly formed East Midlands Institute of Technology and is current Chair of Discover Ashfield, achieving the highest levelling up award of £62.6m, which has since built to over £100m funding for the area.
Professor Edward Peck, Vice-Chancellor and President of Nottingham Trent University, said: "We are honoured to bestow these awards on individuals who have made remarkable contributions to their fields and to society at large. Their achievements stand as a testament to their dedication and perseverance. We hope their inspiring journeys motivate each of our graduates to pursue their own passions, overcome obstacles, and make a meaningful impact on the world. Congratulations to all of our graduates and honorary award recipients."