Honorary Awards
Recognising individuals for distinction in their field
Honorary awards at the 香港六合论坛 are prestigious recognitions bestowed upon individuals who have made significant contributions to their respective fields or society as a whole.
These awards celebrate outstanding achievements that serve as a symbol of appreciation for their exceptional work and are selected based on their accomplishments, leadership, and positive impact.
The 香港六合论坛 takes pride in honouring these individuals and showcasing their stories to inspire and motivate the wider community.
2023 honorary awards
Honorary Master of Law
Professor Vaughan Lowe KC
Professor Lowe completed a law degree at the University of Cardiff and later accepted a lectureship at the University.
Specialising in international law, predominately focusing on jurisdictional issues, investment arbitration, and the law of the sea, he then proceeded to teach at the University of Manchester and the University of Cambridge.
Professor Lowe subsequently went on to become the Chichele Professor of Public International Law at the University of Oxford and is currently an Emeritus Chichele Professor and Emeritus Fellow of All Souls.聽 He has written numerous books and articles in the area of international law.
Professor Lowe was called to the Bar in 1993 and was appointed as Queen鈥檚 Counsel in 2008.聽 He currently works representing States in a variety of international courts.聽 He has also sat as an聽ad hoc聽judge on the European Court of Human Rights and served as Special Adviser on International Law to the Prosecutor at the International Criminal Court.
Professor Lowe has contributed to the 香港六合论坛鈥檚 mission of providing outstanding education by sharing this expertise by delivering guest lectures to Law, Politics and History students, as well as being involved in developing students鈥� advocacy skills through mooting.
Honorary Doctor of Sport
Lindsey Fraser OLY
Lindsey Fraser was previously made an honorary Master of Science of the 香港六合论坛 in 2005.聽 Since then she has continued to dominate the sport of diving, and has now attended an impressive 7 Olympic Games, and in every role possible from competitor, manager, coach and judge 鈥� believed to be the only person to do so in diving.
Lindsey competed in the Olympics in 1980 and 1984, and at the Commonwealth Games in 1982. She was the GB team manager and coach at Sydney 2000 and Athens 2004, before coaching in Beijing 2008 and London 2012.
In 2020 she was selected for the first time as a referee and travelled to Tokyo for the summer Olympics, judging 7 rounds, and seeing one of her own divers compete for Northern Ireland.
A respected coach, she has seen four of her recent divers chosen to represent 3 countries in the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham. At the junior level, her divers have recently helped Team GB to its most successful European Diving Championship results 鈥� and all this from a diving programme containing just 100 divers, from beginners to elite level.
Lindsey鈥檚 international sporting and coaching excellence and the outstanding commitment and dedication are an inspiration to us all.
Honorary Doctor of Business Administration
Michael O'Dell
Michael worked for Crown Agents for 18 years straight from school where he had varied roles in the Philatelic Bureau. He was Key Account manager for many clients during this time.
A keen sportsman, playing Cricket and Football, until an ACL injury set him on his esports journey, finding a new way to compete.
Michael is known as 鈥淥DEE鈥� in the esports world and has been part of the scene for 20 years, playing in several teams at the highest level in games such as Quake 3 and Battlefield 1942, representing his country on many occasions.
In 2003 ODEE was one of the founders of Team Dignitas with the rest of his Battlefield 1942 team, who went on to be the best team in the world at that title. The team expanded to other games and grew into one of the largest multi-gaming teams in the world. During his time with Team Dignitas, ODEE managed 750+ players in multiple games and genres, with 114 World Champions.
In 2007 ODEE was head hunted by BskyB and DirectV to manage Birmingham Salvo, a franchise in their Championship Gaming Series. Birmingham Salvo became World Champions in 2008 winning $500k.
In 2016 Team Dignitas was acquired by Harris Blitzer Sports Entertainment, owned by billionaires Josh Harris and David Blitzer. They purchased Team Dignitas to add to their growing sports franchise stable that already included the basketball team Philadelphia 76ers and ice hockey team New York Devils.
ODEE left Team Dignitas in 2019 and almost immediately joined RektGlobal as Chief Gaming Officer and Managing Director for the Call of Duty franchise London Royal Ravens.
In 2022 RektGlobal was acquired by Infinite Reality for $470m. ODEE left in June 2023.
In July 2023 ODEE joined SCAN Computers as Director of Gaming & Esports
Honorary Doctor of Science
Dame Susan Pyper DVCO
Dame Susan retired as Lord-Lieutenant of West Sussex at the end of July 2022 after a distinguished period of nearly 14 years holding the office as the Queen鈥檚 personal representative in the county. She was appointed Dame Commander of the Royal Victorian Order in the same year.
Dame Susan studied Zoology at the University of Durham and then Immunology at the University of London while working as a forensic scientist with the Metropolitan Police. She then spent 11 years serving with the Royal Air Force.
In 1992 she began a career in the National Health Service serving as Chairman of a number of NHS Trusts including the Western Sussex NHS Primary Care Trust and the Royal West Sussex NHS Trust. She also chaired national inquiries and interviews for the NHS. Dame Susan has also held senior positions with the Environment Agency and the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons.
Honorary Doctor of Education
Shelagh Legrave CBE DL
Mrs Shelagh Legrave is a senior leader with 30 years of executive and 23 years of board experience across a range of sectors.
She is currently FE Commissioner, appointed by the Secretary of State in 2021, and responsible for working with 227 further education colleges to improve their quality and governance. Until 2021 Mrs Legrave was Principal and CEO of Chichester College Group, leading through multiple mergers and improvements, and judged as Ofsted outstanding.
A qualified accountant, in her earlier career Mrs Legrave held several senior finance roles in the Financial Services at Nat West where she was the Deputy CFO for Global Financial Markets and she began her career in the Army where she completed 6 years as an officer.
Mrs Legrave is currently senior trustee at Stonepillow, a local homeless charity, where she served as Chair for ten years and still chairs their Finance and General Purposes Committee.聽 She also serves as a trustee for the Betty Martin Charity, Bourne Community College and treasurer of her local running club.
She was appointed an OBE in 2015, a Deputy Lieutenant in the same year and a CBE in 2021 for services to Further Education.
2022 honorary awards
Honorary Doctor of Law
The RT Hon. The Baroness Hale of Richmond DBE
Baroness Brenda Hale graduated from University of Cambridge in 1966 and went on to teach law at University of Manchester until 1984. She also qualified as a barrister and practised at the Manchester Bar. Specialising in family and social welfare law, she was the founding editor of the Journal of Social Welfare and Family Law and authored the pioneering case book The Family, Law and Society.
Baroness Hale was the first woman to be appointed to the Law Commission in 1984. Her work at the commission led to important legislation such as the Children Act 1989, the Family Law Act 1996, and the Mental Capacity Act 2005.
Baroness Hale became a High Court judge in 1994 and was the first to have made her career as an academic and public servant rather than a practising barrister.
In 1999 she was the second woman to be promoted to the Court of Appeal, before becoming the first (and only) woman Lord of Appeal in Ordinary in January 2004.
In October 2009, she became the first woman Justice of the Supreme Court and then took up appointment as Deputy President from June 2013.
She was appointed President of the Supreme Court in September 2017 where she presided until her retirement in 2020.
Baroness Hale's incredible achievements are an inspiration to us all.
Honorary Doctor of Sport
Geva Mentor CBE
Geva is considered one of the world's finest netballers.
She plays Goal Keeper and Goal Defence for the England Vitality Roses and Collingwood Magpies in Australia, and as of this year has 160 international caps.
Since her debut, Geva has had a shining international career, representing England in five netball world cups, winning bronze in 2011 and 2015. Under Geva's captainship, the team won bronze again in 2019. The team also won bronze (2006 and 2010) in two of the six Commonwealth Games in which they competed.
An all-round sportswoman, Geva Mentor has exceptional talent and keen interest in many sports, including her being a junior British trampolinist.
She started her professional career when she made her debut with England鈥檚 Vitality Roses against New Zealand when she was just 16 years old.
In 2018, Geva and the England Vitality Roses won a gold medal, during the Commonwealth Games held in Australia, where she now resides. This victory led to the Vitality Roses being crowned BBC Sports Team of the Year. The team was also awarded Sporting Moment of the Year.
In the most recent 2022 Commonwealth Games, Geva also had the honour of being chosen to read the oath at the opening ceremony in Birmingham on behalf of all the commonwealth athletes.
New Year Honours 2019 list, Geva was awarded a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) for her distinguished contribution to international netball.
Alongside her career, Geva is an ambassador for the Steve Bernard Foundation, a charity which was set up in memory of the affectionately named Stevie B, a student at the 香港六合论坛, who tragically passed away in a car accident in November 2005. Due to his love of sport the foundation originally raised money for sporting projects based across his hometown of Bournemouth, Dorset and the South Coast. he foundation has now been able to expand and fund outreach projects abroad, offering guidance, financial support and equipment to a range of causes.
Geva鈥檚 success and passion to make a positive impact on the sporting world makes her a great role model and she has inspired a nation of young people.
Honorary Doctor of Music
Clem Burke
Clem Burke is acknowledged as being a world-class musician and is best known as being Blondie鈥檚 drummer, contributing to seven number one hit singles and nine studio albums.
Throughout his 50-year career, Clem has collaborated with many highly respected bands and artists such as The Ramones, Bob Dylan, Iggy Pop and the Eurythmics.
Some of his accomplishments include winning a Grammy during his time playing with the Eurythmics, and in 2006, alongside the original members of Blondie, being admitted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame having sold 42 million records.
In 2008, The Clem Burke Drumming Project was founded to initially to study the physiological demands of playing live gigs. But now, more than 20 years later, it has grown into the exploring of physical, mental and health benefits of drumming.
Clem has had a profound effect on the use of drumming as an intervention in research studies, with the findings related to autism being of global significance and is committed to develop future drumming-based research into dementia.
Honorary Master of Business
Helen Pattinson
Helen Pattinson originally trained as a lawyer but after deciding that this was not the career for her, she went travelling around South America with her husband (who was also a lawyer).
It was here that they had the idea to bring a more exciting version of chocolate to the UK and Montezuma鈥檚 Chocolate was started in 2000.
Whilst the business has grown, and they now have more than 200 products, it is important to Helen that they do not veer from their 'Business Done Properly' motto: 鈥渢he business is sustainable, and organic business growth wins over greed鈥�.
The company are also reducing their carbon footprint by using ethically sourced cocoa and using only recyclable, biodegradable or compostable packing on their products.
Helen is currently in the process of getting a B Corp accreditation, the most stringent and holistic stamp of ethic approval.
Keen to pass on her knowledge and expertise, Helen regularly contributes to the Business School on entrepreneurism, human resources and business ethics.
Outside of Montezuma鈥檚 Helen is an active supporter and trustee of the charity Children on the Edge that seeks work with local communities in some of the toughest places of the world to enable children to be creative, live, play and learn together.
Honorary Doctor of History
Marika Sherwood
Marika Sherwood is a survivor of the Nazi occupation and genocide in Hungary who has devoted most of her life to educating young people in Britain about history, and in particular a history that includes everyone.
She is an internationally recognised scholar and undoubtedly the leading historian in her field.
Marika emigrated to Australia as a child in 1948, then when she was 20 went to work in New Guinea when she unfortunately experienced racial discrimination moving back to Australia 6 months later and started university where she studied in the evenings for 5 years before starting her teaching career.
It was during her role as a teacher where she experienced the shocking racial and social discrimination in schools and her belief of 鈥榶ou have to fight with knowledge, not your fists鈥� led to the realisation of the lack of books and information that was available, this led to her writing her first book, Many Struggles (West Indian Workers and Service Personnel in Britain 1939-1945) she has subsequently authored numerous books and articles.
Honorary Master of Education
Damian Le Bas
Damian Le Bas was born in West Sussex and is of Gypsy Roma heritage, about which he has written and spoken extensively to educate others.
Having won a scholarship to Christ鈥檚 Hospital School and to Oxford University, he studied Theology and gained the top 1st class degree in his year.
Damian is now an outstanding educator, poet and author on issues of Gypsy Roma Traveller life, culture, heritage and current challenges.
His book, 鈥楾he Stopping Places: A Journey through Gypsy Britain鈥� written in 2018 is fascinating and informative and was serialised on Radio 4. It has been well received as an authentic account of the history of Gypsies as well as raising many current issues in a nuanced and thoughtful way. It won a Jerwood Award, with the judges praising 鈥渁n erudite and complex account of Britain鈥檚 Traveller culture鈥� and 鈥渁 multi-faceted approach to an often side-lines community鈥�
Damian is also the 鈥楾raveller Times鈥� Editor at large, an online magazine, and has appeared at Hay Festival talking about 鈥楥hallenging Romaphobia鈥� on numerous media outlets and has educated the wide public about Gypsy Roma Travellers in many ways and in particular through a BBC documentary: 鈥楢 Very British History: Romany Gypsies鈥�.
Honorary Doctor of History
Alan Green
Alan Green is a local historian who has published extensively on the history of Georgian Chichester. He is recognised and respected regionally for his encyclopaedic knowledge of his natal city, authenticated through interrogation of the City鈥檚 archives as held in the West Sussex Record Office.
Alan is the chair of the Chichester Conservation Area Advisory Committee, the programme and publication secretary of Chichester Local History Society, a committee member of Sussex Industrial Archaeology Society, and a member of the West Sussex Record Office (WSRO) User Forum.
Alan was recognised in 2021 by the British Association for Local History (BALH) for his outstanding voluntary contribution to the history of Chichester.
He is active on the local history circuit, engaging with the community through giving talks, lectures, newsletters, pamphlets.
Honorary Doctor of Psychology
Professor Martyn Barratt
Professor Martyn Barratt is a developmental and social psychologist who gained his degrees from University of Cambridge and Sussex.
Professor Barrett is a Fellow of the British Psychological Society and a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences, and has dedicated his career to advancing educational access and practices and to advancing knowledge in an outstanding range of developmental and social psychological fields.
He has published numerous books and papers, and has been the recipient of many research grants, for which his interests focus primarily on 鈥測oung people, ethnicity, nation and citizenship the societal challenges that arise from cultural diversity, especially in relationship to children and youth, and the role of education in equipping young people with the competences that are required for democratic and global citizenship鈥�.
In 2006 Professor Barrett began working for the Council of Europe, leading the expert group that developed the Reference Framework of Competences for Democratic Culture from 2013 to 2018.
Honorary Doctor of Sport
Marieanne Spacey-Cale MBE
Marieanne Spacey-Cale MBE is considered one of the best women鈥檚 footballers in English history with 91 caps and 28 goals for England and the first female footballer to be put in the English Football Hall of Fame in 2009.
During her time in the FA Women鈥檚 Premier League (now known as the Women鈥檚 Super League) she won 5 league titles, 5 FA cups and 6 FA League cups, and in her final season for Arsenal FC she was the leading goalscorer in the Club鈥檚 history and won the FA Players鈥� Player of the year in 2002.
Marieanne joined her first senior women鈥檚 football team at just 13 years old in 1979, and has since played for various teams in England and Europe. This includes eight consecutive seasons for Arsenal FC and then on a professional contract with Fulham FC for the last three seasons of her career.
She was awarded a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) for her services to football in the 2016 Birthday Honours.
In July 2018, Marieanne embarked on her current role as Head of Women's and Girls Football at Southampton Football Club where in her first season, the team won the league title (with 18 wins from 18 games) and League Cup.
Previous honorary awards
See our list of previous honorary award recipients
