Originally Published 21 December 2001

The University of Warwick will award two honorary degrees at its Winter Degree Ceremonies to be held on Friday 11th January 2001. Short biographies of the honorary graduands now follow:

Carol Ann Duffy, OBE: Hon DLitt

Poet and playwright. Born in Glasgow but at the age of five she moved to Stafford, where she was educated at St Joseph?s Convent School and Stafford High School for Girls. She studied philosophy at Liverpool University and worked at Granada TV before becoming a full-time writer in the 1980s, when two of her plays "Take My Husband and Cavern Dreams"  were performed at the Liverpool Playhouse. Her first pamphlet of poems was published in 1973, when she was 18; subsequently publications include Standing Female Nude (1985), Selling Manhattan (1987), The Other Country (1990), I Wouldn't Thank You for a Valentine (ed) (1992), Mean Time (1993), Selected Poems (1994), Stopping for Death (ed)(1996) and The World's Wife (1999). Her work has won many awards: the Eric Gregory, 1983; the Somerset Maugham, 1987, the Dylan Thomas, 1990, the Cholmondeley, 1992; the Whitbread Poetry and the Forward Poetry, 1993, the Lannan (USA), 1995 and the Signal Poetry, 1997. Carol Ann Duffy is keen to foster an interest in poetry and drama among young people. In the 1980s, she was writer in residence in schools in the East End of London, and she has recently dramatised Grimm's Fairy Tales for the Young Vic Theatre. She was awarded the OBE in 1995 and was made a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 1999.

Photo and Interview Opportunity for Carol Ann Duffy 12.30pm Friday 11th January rear of the University’s Senate House Building Picture of her available at: This Link

John Howel Jones: Hon DSc

Howel Jones was educated at Wrekin College, Cambridge University and St George?s Hospital, London, where he later returned as Senior Medical Registrar. During his career in medicine, he has made an important contribution to health services in the West Midlands region. He was Medical Registrar of the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Birmingham, and for over 30 years served as Consultant Physician to the Coventry and Rugby Health Authorities. He developed the region's first Gastroenterology service, introducing the endoscopy service to Coventry, and played a major role in the development of postgraduate medical education in Coventry and Rugby. He was President of the West Midlands Physicians Association and of the West Midlands Gastroenterological Society. At the national level, Dr Jones was a member of the Council of the Royal College of Physicians of London, and was Medical Officer to the British Olympic Team and the England Commonwealth Games Team from 1976 - 84. Howel Jones has also given valuable service to the University, as a member of Council (1989-95) and in his current position as Chair of the University of Warwick's Medical Research Institute Appeal. Under his guidance, the appeal has raised over £5 million to initiate biomedical research at Warwick and the new building for biomedical research is now complete.

Photo and Interview Opportunity for John Howel Jones 3.30pm Friday 11th January rear of the University's Senate House Building