Honorary graduates exemplify the highest levels of achievement in their spheres of activity and reflect our inspirational Durham community.
Honorary awards are nominated by members of University staff and approved by our Senate. They are conferred at our Winter or Summer Congregation ceremonies when thousands of our students officially graduate from the University.
This celebration of our honorary graduates’ achievements acts as a great example to our students as they set out on their own paths into the world.
Explore the recipients of Durham University's Honorary Degrees and Awards for Winter Congregation 2025.
Biography: Since graduating from Durham University with a Geography degree, David has enjoyed a stellar journalistic career culminating in his appointment as the BBC’s first science editor. His award-winning work, spanning four decades, involved reporting for television, radio and online from more than 100 countries. His broadcasts led Sir David Attenborough to praise him as a leader in raising awareness of climate change. In 2022, he became a Visiting Professor in Practice at London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). An independent consultant, speaker and author, David’s latest book, on climate adaptation, will be published next year.
David will be awarded a Doctor of Science on 8 July, 3:45pm.
Biography: Becky Rogerson has dedicated over two decades to ending domestic abuse in the UK and worldwide. She became the Chief Executive of My Sister’s Place, a domestic abuse charity in Middlesbrough, in 2002, then led Wearside Women in Need from 2018. Both organisations thrived under her leadership, growing considerably and expanding their programming while gaining national attention.
Her contributions to Durham University’s Centre for Research into Violence and Abuse have been enormous. Outside of the UK, she has travelled to China, USA, Belize, Peru, Brazil and Nicaragua to learn and undertake outreach with the goal of ending domestic abuse.
Becky will be awarded a Doctor of Science on 9 July, 1:45pm.
Biography: (Dato’) Faiz Azmi is the Executive Chairman of the Securities Commission Malaysia. He is widely known and respected in corporate Malaysia. He read law at Durham University, became a barrister at Lincoln’s Inn, an accountant in Touché Ross London and PricewaterhouseCoopers Malaysia.
His roles and work included acting as auditor to major banking and conglomerate groups in Malaysia, advisor on market deals and regulations, acted as administrator for an airline and a few government entities.
He also coordinated national projects on accrual accounting and COVID 19 in Malaysia. He was the Malaysian Accounting Standards Board chairman and chaired for 6 years the Islamic Finance IASB advisory group. (Dato’) Faiz believes in paying forward. He was the President of the Malaysian Institute of Accountants and Chairman of MyPac that has educated over a thousand qualified accountants. He is a passionate advocate on sustainability and an ICAEW Council member.
(Dato’) Faiz will be awarded a Doctor of Civil Law on 8 July, 9am.
Biography: Having grown up in Sedgefield, County Durham, actor, screenwriter, director and producer Mark Gatiss has gone on to enjoy a glittering television and stage career. He is best known as a founding member of The League of Gentlemen and as co-creator and EP of award-winning BBC series Sherlock, in which he played Mycroft Holmes. Other writing/performance credits include Doctor Who, Dracula, Mission Impossible 7 & 8, Game of Thrones and Wolf Hall. Mark has won countless awards, including a BAFTA TV Award, a Primetime Emmy Award and two Laurence Olivier Awards.
Mark will be awarded a Doctor of Letters on 7 July, 3:45pm.
Biography: Dapo Akande is a world-renowned academic and lawyer specialising in international law. Following a lectureship in Law at Durham University from 2000-2004, Dapo is now the Chichele Professor of Public International Law at the University of Oxford, a Fellow of All Souls College, Oxford and co-director of the Oxford Institute for Ethics, Law and Armed Conflict (ELAC).
Outside of higher education, his influence in the field of international law has been wide reaching, including advisory work for governments from all across the world and international legal organisations. He is a member of the United Nations International Law Commission which is responsible for promoting the codification and progressive development of international law.
In 2024, it was announced by the United Kingdom government that Dapo would be nominated for election to the International Court of Justice in the election to take place at the UN in 2026.
Dapo will be awarded a Doctor of Civil Law on 9 July, 11am.
Biography: Lorraine Heggessey is a pioneer in broadcast television. After earning a BA in English Literature from Durham University, she began a career in journalism, eventually becoming the first woman to be Controller of BBC One in 2000.
Under her leadership, the channel became the most popular in Britain, featuring programming including Strictly Come Dancing and the new Dr Who. She then took the helm at the production company talkbackThames as it introduced hits including Britain’s Got Talent. More recently, she worked as the Chief Executive of The Royal Foundation, a role she held until 2019.
Lorraine will be awarded a Doctor of Letters on 7 July, 1:45pm.
Biography: Gina McKee is a highly regarded actress with an impressive resume of stage, television, and film credits. Raised in Peterlee, County Durham, to a coal miner father, Gina began acting at an early age, Her film and television appearances include Notting Hill, Atonement, and My Policeman. She has been nominated for BAFTA’s for ‘The Street’ ‘The Lost Prince’ and won a BAFTA TV Award in 1997 for the BBC TV Series Our Friends in the North. Recent theatre appearances include ‘Dear England’ at the National Theatre and ‘The Years’ at The Almeida and Pinter Theatres both of which she was nominated for an Olivier award
Gina will be awarded a Doctor of Letters on 2 July, 3:45pm.
Biography: After graduating from Durham in 1984, Sir Jonathan Jones KCB KC (Hon) has enjoyed a hugely impressive legal career.
Sir Jonathan has held a string of high-profile roles, including as the permanent secretary of the Government Legal Department – the most senior legal official in the UK government.
He was appointed honorary King’s Counsel in 2019 and made a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath (KCB) for public service in 2020.
He continues to support our Law School and has offered to support future St Chad’s College students through lectures and career mentorship.
Jonathan was awarded a Doctor of Civil Law on 9 January.
Biography: Professor George Efstathiou received a PhD in 1979 from Durham University and has since become a household name in astrophysics.
He was an original proponent of the ‘Cold Dark Matter’ theory on the origin of galaxies, which has become the Standard Model of cosmology. Professor Efstathiou has won numerous awards and is a Fellow of the Royal Society.
Based at the University of Cambridge, he often collaborates with Durham colleagues and has close links with our Institute for Computational Cosmology.
George was awarded a Doctor of Science on 10 January.
Biography: Matt Baker is one of the most popular British television presenters active today.
He co-presented the BBC children’s television show Blue Peter from 1999 until 2006, BBC One’s Countryfile since 2009 and The One Show from 2011 to 2020.
Matt was born in County Durham and attended Durham Sixth Form Centre.
Later he moved to Edinburgh to undertake training as an actor at Queen Margaret University School of Drama.
Matt was awarded a Doctor of Science on 10 January.
Biography: Born in Hartlepool, Suzanne served in the further education sector for more than 30 years, including as Principal and Chief Executive Officer of East Durham College.
Having begun her tenure in September 2012, she led the college to three highly positive Ofsted inspections and oversaw significant multi-million-pound investments in the college infrastructure. This includes the £13m Houghall campus, where students now have access to state-of-the-art agriculture facilities.
Suzanne was a respected leader who fundamentally cared about learners and the transformational difference education can make to their lives, especially to those who are hardest to reach. Suzanne was a great champion for the FE sector and the North East.
Suzanne played a key role in the development of the Durham Learning Alliance, a partnership between Durham University and four County Durham colleges to expand education opportunities. She retired from East Durham College in 2024, and sadly died just a few weeks later.
Suzanne was awarded a Doctor of Letters on 10 January.
Watch our winter 2025 honorary graduates: Durham alumnus Sir Jonathan Jones and renowned astrophysicist Professor George Efstathiou, alongside television presenter Matt Baker, as they share their personal journeys and experiences of Durham.
Congregation is an annual event at Durham. The ceremonies allow our students to celebrate all they have achieved in their time at university, not only academic, but social and pastoral too.
/prod01/prodbucket01/media/durham-university/departments-/ceremonies/79480-(1)-1-1920X583.jpg)