Congratulations to all involved in December Graduation

Thursday, 15 December 2011

Many members of staff gave their time voluntarily to help at the ceremonies on Thursday and Friday, from marshalling and stewarding to manning the information desk. A huge thank you to everyone involved.

Acting Vice-Chancellor Professor Tony Downes said: "After benefitting from education of the highest standard, this year's graduands will join the 150,000 people from 180 countries who have graduated from Reading. Many of them will go on to achieve great things in areas such as biological sciences, food and nutritional sciences, agriculture, archaeology, law and climate change research, to name but a few. Congratulations to all and we wish them the very best for the future."

Honorary degree

This year's graduation ceremony will see a leading figure from the world of climate science awarded an honorary degree:

Professor Julia Slingo is Chief Scientist at the Met Office, and has been a leading figure in climate research for more than 30 years. She has made significant and lasting contributions to many aspects of climate science, and is best known for her work on clouds, which remain a primary source of uncertainty in climate models, and the meteorology of the tropics. 

Professor Slingo has held the most senior roles and taken the lead in climate science. She was the Director of Climate Research in the National Centre for Atmospheric Science and contributed to the Stern Review on the Economics of Climate Change, and to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. In 2008 she became the first female President of the Royal Meteorological Society and was awarded an OBE for services to climate science.

Since 2009 she has been the Chief Scientist at the UK Met Office, the meteorological equivalent of the Astronomer Royal. Professor Slingo has a long association with the University of Reading. She was a member of staff for nearly 20 years, during which time she was Director of Climate Research in the National Centre for Atmospheric Science and in 2006 founded the Walker Institute for Climate System Research at the University of Reading.

Parking disruptions

Car parks 2 (behind the ICMA building), 7 (Soil Science) and the contractors' car park beside the SportsPark will be closed on Thursday 15 and Friday 16 December to accommodate parking for the Graduation ceremonies on those days. A one-way system will also be in operation along Queen's Drive from 8:00am - 6:00pm on these two days.

As public transport to Whiteknights has improved over the last year or two, please do consider using those services as an alternative, if at all possible, during this very busy period. (A dedicated website for Reading Buses services to Whiteknights can be found at http://www.reading-buses.co.uk/university)