Honorary fellowships were conferred on the following people in the July graduation ceremonies of 2010.
In recognition of innovation and achievements in his professions of mountaineering and photography. (Awarded July 2010) | Deceased December 2020
In recognition of his contribution to the arts, architecture and urban regeneration. (Awarded July 2010)
Tom Bloxham was born in 1963, attended Tiffin School and the Victoria University of Manchester to study Politics & Modern History. At university, he opened a music and poster shop and sold fire extinguishers door-to-door. After subletting portions of his unit, his career in property began. Then co-founding Urban Splash in 1993 transforming disused buildings and brownfield sites into places in which people can live, work and play. The company has won over 490 awards, developing over 60 schemes in Manchester, Birmingham, Liverpool, North Shields, Milton Keynes, Leeds, Bradford, Sheffield, Bristol, Plymouth and Morecambe. Tom also held several other positions including Chairman of Manchester International Arts Festival, and trustee of The Tate, the Manchester United Foundation. In 1999, at the age of 35 he was awarded an MBE for his services to architecture and urban regeneration. In 2025 he was awarded a CBE by King Charles for services to Culture.
In recognition for his contribution to agricultural education, upland and community development and the Commoners movement (awarded pre August 2007).
Andrew Humphries worked as a shepherd in the early days of his working life. He is a former lecturer, Assistant Director (Academic) and Director of the Newton Rigg College hill farm. Andrew played a pivotal role in supporting the farming community during the 2001 Foot and Mouth epidemic and as a member of the Foot and Mouth Enquiry panel. In 2000 he served as a member of the Government Hills Task Force. As chairman of the Cumbria Upland Management Group he led the establishment of the Federation of Cumbria Commoners and also as the Founder Trustee of the Foundation for Common Land, a charity devoted to sustaining pastoralism as a public good. In 2006 The Herdwick Sheep Breeders nominated Andrew for the NSA George Hedley Award for services to the British Sheep Industry. He received the T.I. Allison award for lifetime contribution to sheep farming in North England and the Blamire Medal. He is a Fellow of The Royal Agricultural Societies of England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. Andrew has worked with writers and artists including Andy Goldsworthy, Fay Godwin, Ian Lawson, and Marie Elsa Bragg. Publications and contributions include Sheepfolds (Goldsworthy) and Hill Sheep Husbandry, a guide for non-farming professionals.
Currently he is working on the evolution and development of sheep breeds, focussing on a Cumbrian case study and serves as a member of the Technical Advisory Group to the Lake District World Heritage Site.
Andrew is an honorary member of the Federation of Cumbria Commoners and a Founding Panel member of the Hadfield Trust.
In recognition of his significant contributions to politics, culture and the environment (awarded July 2010).
Chris Smith was born in Barnet, studied English at Cambridge and completed a PhD with a thesis on Coleridge and Wordsworth. After serving as a Councillor he was elected to Parliament in 1983 and joined Blair’s Cabinet between 1997 and 2001 as Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, succeeding to the House of Lords in 2005. He was one of the founding directors of the Clore Leadership Programme, is President of The Wordsworth Trust and was the first MP to climb all the 3,000 ft "Munros" in Scotland. For six years, he was Chairman of the Environment Agency and led the organisation through the UK winter floods of 2013 and 2014.
Chris was for ten years the Chairman of the Advertising Standards Authority, and was also Chairman of the Art Fund, the Intellectual Property Regulation Board, and South Staffordshire Water Company. For ten years from 2015 he was Master of Pembroke College, Cambridge; and in July 2025 he was elected as Chancellor of the University
In recognition of his achievements in mountaineering and his support for youth organisations and outdoor education (awarded July 2010).
After School, Chris Bonington joined the Royal Fusiliers and was commissioned in the Royal Tank Regiment in 1956, serving three years in North Germany and two years at the Army Outward Bound School. This was followed by nine months working for Unilever, after which Chris decided to become a professional mountaineer, making numerous first ascents in the Alps and Himalayas. He went on to lead the successful expedition making the first ascent the South Face of Annapurna in 1970 and of the Southwest Face of Everest in 1975 and then reached the summit of Everest himself in 1985. He received a knighthood in 1996 for services to mountaineering, and the CVO for services to Outward Bound in 2012. He was president of the Council for National Parks for 8 years, is Non-Executive Chairman of Berghaus, Deputy Patron of the Outward-Bound Trust and Patron of Community Action Nepal, British Mountaineering Council, The Mountain Heritage Trust, Bendrigg Trust and The Boardman Tasker Award for Mountain Literature, and Chancellor of Lancaster University until 2014, and an Ambassador for the YHA
In recognition of his influential contributions to the development of nursing practice in the UK and his increasingly important contributions to practice in, and understanding of, the relationships between spirituality and wellbeing (awarded July 2010)
Stephen has had a distinguished in academia and as a nurse in the NHS. He has published over 800 papers and some 20 books on nursing, healing and spirituality and is currently a resident spiritual director for the Sacred Space Foundation, a charity offering safe space for spiritual seekers and those in crisis. He is a trustee of several charities, is a member of the Iona Community and an activist in the Deep Adaptation movement. In collaboration with the Diocese of Carlisle, he has developed the St. Kentigern School for Contemplatives, and a programme of 'Caring for the Carers' retreats at Rydal Hall for carers and other support staff. He works with individuals and organisations developing the practice of healing, spiritual care, leadership, conflict resolution and staff support, and the development of compassion (see https://youtu.be/YUMBKXjgEN0) . He is an ordained interfaith minister and spiritual director. His recent books are ‘Coming Home’, ‘Contemplation’, ‘Burnout’, ‘Heartfullness’ and 'Fugue'- a quintet exploring the roots and practice of spiritual awakening, and the connection to wellbeing and climate change. Two others are: 'Kentigern: a life’ giving an account of a Cumbrian saint and a pilgrimage route, the Kentigern Way, around northern Cumbria; ‘A Grasmere Pilgrimage’ offers a spiritual approach to a walk around the lake.
In recognition of his definitive contributions to media and the arts and for his role in their continuing development. (awarded July 2010)
Melvyn Bragg was born in Wigton, Cumbria in 1939, and read modern history at Wadham College, Oxford. Afterwards, he joined the BBC as a general trainee and became editor of BBC2's first arts programme, New Release. Since then, he has become a leading figure in broadcasting; editing and presenting The South Bank Show for forty one years and produced Specialist Factual and Arts programmes at ITV Studios in London and for Sky Arts. On BBC Radio 4, he presented In Our Time (1998 to 2025) and was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society and a Fellow of The British Academy. In 1998 Melvyn Bragg was appointed to the House of Lords as a Labour life peer: Lord Bragg of Wigton. He has also written several screenplays and works of nonfiction. Most of his novels are set in Cumbria. Three of them made the Man Booker longlist, and others WON prizes including the WH Smith Award, the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize, the Time Life Silver Pen Award and the Parliamentary Book Awards. He has also won a great number of awards for The South Bank Show and In Our Time. In 2018 he was awarded the Companion of Honour.
