Honorary Graduates 2025

Monday 14 July 2025 9:00am

Caroline Lucas was the UK’s first Green Party Member of Parliament between 2010 and 2024, and before that served for 10 years in the European Parliament. She has also served as both Leader and Co-Leader of the Green Party of England and Wales. She is a writer, campaigner and keynote speaker, with a particular interest in the role of education and the arts in mobilising action on the climate and nature emergencies. She has won numerous awards for her work: in 2020 she topped the list of the BBC Radio Woman’s Hour One Planet Power List of influential activists, educators and campaigners, and in 2024 the UK’s largest sustainable business awards scheme presented her with its Lifetime Achievement Award.

She is Co-President of the European Movement, and a Trustee of the Towner Art Gallery in Eastbourne. Her latest book, a Sunday Times bestseller, is Another England: How to Reclaim our National Story.

Monday 14 July 2025 11:45am

Pippa has a career spanning nearly 50 years demonstrating a deep commitment to community engagement, public service and leadership in the arts, cultural and creative sectors. A graduate of York University in English and Related Literature, her first job was in community arts in Small Heath Birmingham and then Westminster Women’s Aid with women and families escaping domestic violence. She saw at first hand the importance of creativity in education and in health and wellbeing, thereafter becoming a strong advocate and practitioner in these field. This was followed with pioneering roles in setting up the National Lottery Community Fund in the SW, ArtshareSW, DAISI (Devon Arts in Schools), Director of Culture SW and in The Government Dept of the SW where she was Head of Culture. Her work continued with Arts Council England where she led on strategic partnerships in the SW. She now works as a freelance Arts Consultant which includes mentoring creative businesses through Creative UK.

Pippa’s career is set alongside voluntary directorships, and mentoring and coaching including The Northcott Theatre, chairing The Phoenix Arts Centre Exeter; Wardrobe Theatre Bristol and currently Literature Works - the Literature Development Agency for the SW. Her focus is particularly on working with women and with young leaders, building confidence and capacity for change and includes several years with the Exeter University Career Mentorship Scheme. She had a major strategic role in the achievement of Exeter's UNESCO City of Literature designation. She has championed and written about co- leadership and worked with Boards on co- chairing models of leadership. Over the past couple of years she has put fun and creative energy into the co - leadership of CIRCE, a network for women leading in Arts and Culture sector projects in the Devon and Cornwall Region. Pippa’s work has had a significant impact in the SW and is woven through with values of inclusivity and social justice.

Monday 14 July 2025 3:00pm

Cheryl Morgan has a long career in IT and energy economics. She has lived and worked in Australia and California as well as the UK.

Cheryl is well known in the science fiction community. She was the first openly trans person to win a Hugo Award from the World Science Fiction Society, and runs her own publishing company, Wizard’s Tower Press. She has worked as a sensitivity reader with several best-selling authors. Cheryl has been a Guest of Honour at conventions in Croatia and Finland, and a keynote speaker at academic conferences in Graz and Glasgow.

An expert on the history of gender and sexuality, Cheryl is a regular speaker at public events and academic conferences. She has created online lectures for HistFest. Her writing on trans history has been published in a variety of academic outlets.

As a former director of The Diversity Trust, Cheryl helped create their trans awareness training programme. She still works occasionally as a trans awareness trainer.

Cheryl currently lives in South Wales. Mae hi’n dysgu siarad Cymraeg.

Tuesday 15 July 2025 11:45am

Christopher Lockyear is the Secretary General of Médecins Sans Frontières / Doctors Without Borders (MSF), coordinating its global efforts to provide impartial medical assistance in conflict, epidemics, and natural disasters.

A leading voice for principled humanitarian action, the protection of civilians, and the safety of humanitarian workers, Chris regularly addresses the issues in critical crises like those in Gaza and Sudan. Whether negotiating directly with warring parties, or advocating to platforms of international governance, such as the United Nations Security Council, he urges renewed commitment to International Humanitarian Law and for the uninhibited provision of life-saving humanitarian assistance.

Chris began his humanitarian career in 2005 as a Water and Sanitation Engineer in Darfur, Sudan, later leading humanitarian operations in Somalia, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Bangladesh, South Sudan, Chad, Uganda, Nigeria, and the Philippines.

A qualified mediator, Chris holds engineering degrees from Cambridge University and was selected as a World Fellow at Yale University in 2014. In 2017, he pursued an MA in Philosophy at Exeter University, where he researched the ethical challenges of contemporary humanitarian action.

Tuesday 15 July 2025 3:00pm

Yasmin Batliwala is the Chief Executive of Advocates for International Development (A4ID), a nonprofit that mobilises the legal profession to fight poverty and drive sustainable development. Under her leadership, A4ID has become a vital force in international pro bono legal work, cultivating partnerships with international law firms, corporates, and development organisations.  Her leadership has cemented A4ID’s reputation as a trailblazer in the intersection of law and development, influencing how legal professionals engage with global justice issues and empowering them to be catalysts for meaningful, lasting change.

With a career spanning both the Public and Third Sectors, Yasmin led initiatives, championing issues such as HIV/AIDS, drug and alcohol dependency, and criminal justice, including work with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. She has served on the Board of a major NHS Trust, The Hertfordshire Police Authority, and as Chair of Via, influencing policies supporting vulnerable communities. As a Magistrate in both Youth and Adult Courts, she shaped justice at multiple levels.

Recognised for her contributions to the public sector, she received the City of London Woman of Achievement Award. In 2022, she was honoured with an MBE in the Queen’s New Year Honours List for her work in Human Rights, the Rule of Law, and International Development - cementing her legacy as a visionary leader dedicated to justice and social impact.

Wednesday 16 July 2025 9:00am

Sayeeda, Baroness Warsi, Britain's first Muslim Cabinet Minister, is also a lawyer, businesswoman and racial justice campaigner and has consistently been listed as one of the 500 most influential Muslims in the world.

Appointed to the House of Lords as a life peer at the age of thirty-six, she served as Chairman of the Conservative Party, in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, and as Minister for Faith and Communities.

She is advisor at the Bridge Institute, Georgetown University Washington DC, a member of the International Advisory Board on FORB, University of Notre Dame and Pro-Vice Chancellor at the University of Bolton.

Sayeeda is author of two books; The Enemy Within, A Tale of Muslim Britain and Muslims Don’t Matter.

She is a regular daytime TV presenter and news commentator. In 2024 she launched the award-winning Podcast ‘A Muslim and A Jew Go There’.

Wednesday 16 July 2025 11:45am

Sir Sajid Javid is a former Cabinet minister and business leader, known for his trailblazing career in public service and finance. Born in 1969 in Rochdale to Pakistani immigrant parents, Javid was raised in a working-class household; his father was a bus driver. He became the first member of his family to attend university, studying economics and politics at Exeter.

Before entering politics, Javid had a successful 20-year career in international finance, rising to become a senior managing director at Deutsche Bank. He was elected as a Member of Parliament in 2010 and quickly rose through the ranks of government. Over the years, he held several key Cabinet roles, including Secretary of State for Health, Home Secretary and Chancellor of the Exchequer.

Javid was widely respected for his competence across departments and for breaking new ground as one of the most prominent British politicians of Muslim heritage. He is known for his socially liberal and economically conservative views, and his personal story of ambition, resilience, and public service. In 2024, he was knighted for his public service. He left Parliament in 2024, and is currently a Partner at the investment firm Centricus, Chair-elect of the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust and a Visiting Fellow at Oxford University.

Wednesday 16 July 2025 3:00pm

Erika Brodnock, MBE is a multi-award-winning entrepreneur, philanthropist, and angel investor. She is also an MBA, a Royal Society Entrepreneur in Residence at King’s College London, a Leadership Fellow at the University of Exeter, and a PhD candidate in the Inclusion Initiative at the LSE. She authored Diversity Beyond Gender and co-authored the TRANSPARENT Framework and Better Venture - Improving Diversity, Innovation, and Profitability in Venture Capital and Startups.

Erika is co-founder at Kinhub, providing a generative AI coaching and personalised support platform for enterprise teams. She is also a non-executive director at Diversity VC and The Good Play Guide; a trustee for the Black Funding Network; an investment committee member for Resonance Community Fund; and serves on the advisory boards for the APPG for Entrepreneurship and Oxford Brookes Business School.

Thursday 17 July 2025 9:00am

Professor Penny Endersby is a scientist and engineer who has contributed to defence, security, weather, and climate science both in the UK and internationally. She became Chief Executive at the Met Office in 2018 and President of the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts in 2023, becoming the first woman to hold either position.

Penny grew up in London and studied Natural Sciences at Cambridge University with scholarships from WISE and British Gas. She started at the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory as a graduate researcher in armour, later serving as Head of the Physics Department and Director of Cyber and Information Systems. Penny helped develop Dstl's capabilities in cyber and data science research and did much to increase their innovation and intellectual property generation.

She received the 2021 Society Medal from the British Computer Society for her use of IT in benefiting society, specifically through investments in the Met Office's supercomputer and data systems supporting weather and climate prediction.

Penny is a visiting professor in the Electronics and Computer Science Faculty at Southampton University and an honorary professor of Physics and the Environment at the University of Exeter. She was made a CBE in the 2024 New Year's Honours.

Penny chairs the Dartmoor National Park Steering Group and spends much of her free time there. She is married to a teacher and has two grown children. Penny is interested in nature and music and is Exeter Cathedral’s first Canon Scientist also singing in their voluntary choir.

Thursday 17 July 2025 11:45am

Sarah Turvill was Chair of Council at the University of Exeter from 2012 to 2022 and has been a generous philanthropic supporter of the University overs many years. She is an alumna of the University of Exeter (LLB Hons 1975).

Having trained as a barrister, Sarah was called to the Bar in 1976 but realising the Bar was not the career for her she joined the Willis Group, a leading global insurance broker, in 1978. Starting out as a lawyer, she then successfully built up Willis' European business as well as its operations in China, Latin America, India and other high-growth markets. She became Chief Executive Officer of Willis International in 2001 and was made Chair in 2006. She was appointed a Bencher at Gray’s Inn in 2009. Sarah retired in December 2013 as Chair of Willis International  and was appointed a Non-Executive Director to the Willis Limited Board.

Sarah currently has a number of voluntary roles on the Isle of Wight, where she lives, including Chair of the Yarmouth Harbour Commissioners and the Seely Hall, as well as Chair of Governors at Brighstone Church of England Aided Primary School. She has recently become a governor of the Exeter Maths School.

Thursday 17 July 2025 3:00pm

Ben Bradshaw was the MP for Exeter from 1997 to 2024. He served as Minister in a number of Government departments under the premierships of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, including Health, the Foreign Office and in the Cabinet as Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport.

Before entering Parliament, Ben was a journalist. He began his working life on the Express and Echo in Exeter (when it was still a quality daily newspaper!) before moving to broadcasting with BBC Radio Devon.  

In early 1989 he was sent by the BBC to Berlin as their correspondent, where he covered the momentous events of the fall of the Berlin Wall and German reunification. He was then a reporter and some time presenter on The World at One and PM programmes on BBC Radio 4.

He was only the second ever Labour MP for Exeter and held the seat in seven elections, including in 2015 when he was the only non-Conservative Member of Parliament south-west of Bristol.

He is a graduate of the University of Sussex and speaks German and Italian.

He lives with his husband Neal between England and Sicily where he now has more time for gardening, cooking, music, friends and family.

Friday 18 July 2025 11:45am

Sir Alan Bates, knighted in 2024 for heading the 20 year plus campaign to expose the abuse of sub postmasters/mistresses by Post Office, stemming from its Horizon computer system failures, was born in Liverpool in 1954, raised in North Wales.

He met Suzanne, a Language Unit teacher whilst working as Museum Services Manager for Exeter Museums.

They settled in Yorkshire as Alan joined the team setting up EUREKA, in Halifax. One responsibility was to oversee the introduction of an electronic point of sale system (EPOS) for the retail side.

Following this position and with Suzanne overburdened by paperwork, they looked at Post Offices. In 1998 Alan became a Subpostmaster in North Wales. Year 2000 saw Post Office installing the new Fujitsu run computer system UK wide, but Horizon was flawed. Balances were inexplicable as access to inputted data to check figures was limited. Alan refused to sign off balances, Post Office terminated his contract.

The focus was survival but others had to be in the same boat so Alan reached out to fellow victims and anyone who could help. After a first meeting in 2009 with sufferers of a range of outright abuses, he formed the JFSA. He brought notable people on board but Post Office were impenetrable so Alan led a successful Group Litigation court case in 2019 exposing the cover up and helping to vindicate all innocent sub postmasters and sub postmistresses.

In January 2024 this campaign was the subject of a TV drama ‘Mr Bates vs The Post Office’.

Friday 18 July 2025 3:00pm

Dr Andrew Ng is the Founder of DeepLearning.AI, Managing General Partner at AI Fund, Executive Chairman of LandingAI, Chairman and Co-Founder of Coursera, and an Adjunct Professor at Stanford University. As a pioneer in machine learning and online education, Dr Ng has changed countless lives through his work in AI. Over 8 million people have taken an AI class from him. He was the founding lead of the Google Brain team, which helped Google transform into a modern AI company. He served as VP & Chief Scientist at Baidu, where he led a 1,300-person AI team responsible for the company’s AI technology and strategy. He was formerly Director of the Stanford AI Lab, home to 20+ faculty members and research groups. In 2023, he was named to the Time100 AI list of the most influential AI persons in the world. Dr. Ng now focuses his time primarily on providing AI training and on his entrepreneurial ventures, looking for the best ways to accelerate responsible AI adoption globally. Dr Ng has authored over 200 papers in AI and related fields and holds a BSc from CMU, MSc from MIT, and PhD from UC Berkeley.