Falklands War veteran Simon Weston, author and screenwriter Professor Jeanette Winterson and scientist and academic leader Professor Dame Julia King have been awarded honorary degrees at The University of Manchester.
Manchester-born Professor Jeanette Winterson OBE is Professor of Creative Writing at The University of Manchester. She published her first novel, Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit, in 1985 and her BBC television adaptation won her a BAFTA for Best Drama and the Prix d’Argent at the Cannes Film Festival.
She has won numerous prizes for her work, here and abroad, and her fiction is published in more than 20 countries.
Professor Dame Julia King DBE has had an illustrious career in both academia and industry and currently advises the government as a member of the Committee on Climate Change, the Science and Technology Honours Committee and the Airports Commission.
She became Vice-Chancellor of Aston University in 2006 and is a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering.
Simon Weston OBE was on board HMS Sir Galahad when it was hit and destroyed by a missile in Bluff Cove on the Falkland Islands in 1982. The Welsh Guardsman suffered major burns in the resulting fire and his heroic struggle to overcome his terrible injuries, both physical and mental, became a national source of pride and inspiration.
Among his many charitable endeavours, Simon is an ambassador for the Healing Foundation, which helps fund a research centre within the University of Manchester’s Faculty of Life Sciences.
