Award-winning journalist, novelist and a Dame to be honoured at Stirling graduations

Leaders from the worlds of journalism, politics and the arts will receive honorary degrees at the University of Stirling’s summer graduation ceremonies this month.

Mark Daly, Patrick McGrath and Dame Anne McGuire will join more than 2150 Stirling graduands receiving awards at ceremonies on Wednesday 27 and Thursday 28 June.

Multi-award winning BBC journalist Mark Daly will receive the award of Doctor of the University, in recognition of his outstanding contribution to investigative journalism.

Mark Daly

A Stirling alumnus, Mark first gained national prominence as ‘The Secret Policeman’ in 2003, after spending eight months working undercover as a policeman in Manchester to expose racism within the police force.

Novelist Patrick McGrath will be recognised for his outstanding support of academic research, after he donated his literary papers to the University of Stirling archives.

The author of numerous short stories and a series of critically acclaimed novels - including The Grotesque, Spider and The Wardrobe Mistress - Patrick collated his work to provide a record of his creative writing process from rough writing notebooks and early drafts of novels to published editions and press cuttings.

Patrick McGrath

The Right Honourable Dame Anne McGuire DBE will also become a Doctor of the University in recognition of her public service to the people of Stirling and to people with disabilities.

Dame Anne began her political career as a Councillor on Strathclyde Regional Council and later became the Labour MP for Stirling, serving the city for 18 years. After holding a number of Ministerial roles, she became Minister for Disabled People and oversaw the implementation of the Disability Discrimination Act 2005 and the Disability Equality Duty for the public sector in 2006 – both of which became benchmarks for equality and inclusion.

The Right Honourable Dame Anne McGuire DBE

Professor Gerry McCormac, Principal and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Stirling, said:

“I am pleased to honour three outstanding individuals at our summer graduation ceremonies. They are role models to our graduands and embody the University’s ambition to be the difference.

“The University is first in Scotland for Journalism, so it is fitting that we are able to celebrate the achievements of Mark Daly who graduated from Stirling with a degree in Film and Media Studies.

“We will celebrate Patrick McGrath’s standing as an internationally-acclaimed writer whose standing amongst contemporary critics of the Gothic is of the very highest calibre.

“Dame Anne has worked tirelessly to improve the lives of people with disabilities and I am delighted we are able to recognise her achievements with an Honorary Degree.

"Graduation is a time of special celebration and I extend my congratulations to all of our graduands and honorary graduands on their hard-earned accomplishments."

The ceremonies will celebrate the successes of graduating students from the Faculties of Social Sciences and Natural Sciences on Wednesday, 27 June, and the Faculties of Arts and Humanities, Health Sciences and Sport and the Stirling Management School on Thursday, 28 June.