Newcastle University

Newcastle United manager, Sir Bobby Robson, is among four individuals being honoured for their outstanding achievements by the University this week.

The Chancellor of the University of Newcastle upon Tyne, the Right Honourable Christopher Patten CH, will confer Honorary Degrees at a ceremony to be held in the University’s King’s Hall, Armstrong Building, at 3.00 pm on Friday, 9 May 2003, as follows:

Doctor of Letters (DLitt): Ms Fiona Reynolds, Director-General of the National Trust

On 1 January 2001, at the age of just 42, Fiona Reynolds became the youngest Director-General of the National Trust in its 106-year history, and the first woman to hold the post – a role which places her at the helm of the largest non-government landowner in the UK, directing an organization with responsibility for the management of 250 historic houses, gardens and industrial buildings and 248,000 hectares of countryside and coastline.

Fiona Reynolds graduated from Cambridge University in 1979 with a First Class Honours Degree in Geography and Land Economy, followed by an MA, MPhil in 1980. She was Secretary of the Council for National Parks from 1980 to 1987, and subsequently became first Assistant Director, and later Director of the Council for the Protection of Rural England (1992-98). From 1998-2000 she was Director of the Women's Unit of the Cabinet Office.

In 1998 Fiona Reynolds was awarded the CBE for services to agro-environment and conservation.

Doctor of Science (DSc): Dr Herbert Loebl, Tyneside industrialist, founder of the Joyce-Loebl Electronics and Scientific Instrument Group

A feature in the Newcastle Journal newspaper, in April 2002, began with the words 'Among the many businesses which populate Gateshead's Team Valley Trading Estate, you'll find the name of Loebl Ltd. While the company may be noteworthy for the specialist electronic equipment it makes for the rail and defence sectors, the story behind its name and the legacy it represents is even more interesting.'

The story is that of eminent industrialist, Herbert Loebl. Born in Bamberg, Germany, at the age of 16 Herbert fled with his family fled to Newcastle in 1939 as a refugee from Nazi Germany.

After the War, he became a student at King's College, Newcastle (now Newcastle University), graduating in 1949 with a BSc in Electrical Engineering. He was to return to the University on two further occasions, gaining a Master of Philosophy in 1978 and a PhD in 1985. While at the university he met Robert Joyce, a fellow graduate in electrical engineering and the son of an unemployed Jarrow shipyard worker.

Together, Joyce and Loebl started their first company, specialising in electronics and scientific instruments, under a railway arch in Newcastle in 1951 with £200 worth of capital. Today, there are four companies in the region that grew from the original Joyce, Loebl and Co Ltd: Loebl Ltd; Sevcon Ltd, of Team Valley; Applied Imaging Ltd, based at Times Square, Newcastle; and Phasor Ltd, based at Sunderland Enterprise Park.

Herbert Loebl has been widely decorated at home and abroad for his commitment to industrial development, and to the education of his employees. He was awarded an OBE in 1973 for services to exports, the Citizen's Medal of the city of Bamberg in 1996, the Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany in 1997 and the Bavarian Order of Merit in 2001.

Doctor of Science (DSc): Professor Fred Schneider, Department of Computer Science, Cornell University, New York, USA.

One of the most influential figures in computing research, Fred Schneider is a leading international researcher in computer dependability and security, a status which was confirmed by his chairmanship of the American National Research Council's Committee and Trustworthy Computing, and led to the publication of the book Trust in Cyberspace.

The author of more than 120 scientific publications, his co-authored book, A Logical Approach to Discrete Math, is widely used in teaching and his latest research publication, On Concurrent Programming, is already regarded as essential reading by researchers in the field.

Professor Schneider maintains a number of academic and industrial roles. He has held a full Chair at Cornell University since 1993. He is also Director of the Information Assurance Institute, Professor-at-large at the University of Tromsø, Norway and Chief Scientist at the Griffiss Institute, New York.

His industrial involvement includes advisory boards for Intel and IBM, and he advises NSF and Microsoft.

Professor Schneider was one of the first scientists to be appointed as Fellow of the Association for Computing Machinery, and he was nominated to receive that organization's Distinguished Service award in 2002.

Doctor of Civil Law (DCL): Sir Bobby Robson, Manager, Newcastle United Football Club

Born in County Durham in 1933, Bobby Robson's football career has spanned 53 years as a club and international player and manager.

His professional playing career began at Fulham FC in 1950, and he remained with club for six years before joining West Bromich Albion in 1956. A second spell with Fulham followed from 1962–67. During that time, Bobby Robson earned 20 full England caps and represented his country in the 1958 World Cup in Sweden.

Sir Bobby's unrivalled managerial career began in Canada in 1967, as player-coach of Vancouver Royals. He subsequently managed Fulham and Ipswich Town, taking the latter to victory in the FA Cup in 1978 and the UEFA Cup in 1981. A series of successful European managerial positions followed with PSV Eindhoven, Sporting Lisbon, FC Porto and FC Barcelona, all of which led to league and European championships for the clubs under his direction.

Sir Bobby was no less successful on the international stage, taking England to two World Cups, where his team was beaten by the eventual champions on both occasions.

A second managerial spell with PSV Eindhoven, from 1998-99, ended when Sir Bobby was offered the chance to return to England to manage Newcastle United.

He was awarded the CBE in 1991 and Knighted in 2002.

Notes for Editors

Order of Proceedings

3.00 pm The Academic Procession will enter King’s Hall, followed by the Chancellor’s Procession.

3.10 pm The presentation of postgraduate students for their degrees begins.

3.30 pm The Public Orator, Professor John Burn, will present the Honorary Graduands to the Chancellor in the following order:

Ms Fiona Reynolds

Dr Herbert Loebl

Professor Fred Schneider

Sir Bobby Robson

The Public Orator will deliver a short speech about each graduand before presenting them to the Chancellor, who will confer the degree by means of a handshake over the University Mace.

Copies of the speeches by the Public Orator will be available at the ceremony.

4.30 pm The ceremony will close.