By Teddy Coward, Co-Editor-in-Chief
Each faculty is to hold a virtual graduation ceremony for its final year students, with a prominent speaker being listed for each.
Former University of Bristol Chancellor Lady Hale is set to speak at one of the University’s virtual celebrations events, as graduates gear up for their online celebrations, which commence from tomorrow.
The graduation ceremonies for this year are being held online after the coronavirus pandemic forced the University to cancel its annual in-person event.
Lady Hale, who will speak to final year Social Science and Law students on Monday 20 July, is among six eminent names, all of whom have a link to the University of Bristol.
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Speaking to the Faculty of Health Science students at the first virtual ceremony tomorrow is Dr. Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, a prominent anti-apartheid activist who completed her medical degree at the University of Bristol after her exile from South Africa in 1976.
Dr. Dlamini-Zuma currently serves as the South African Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, where she is overseeing the country’s response to the coronavirus pandemic.
Rising to become the first woman to hold the position of Secretary General of the African Union in 2012, Dr. Dlamini-Zuma has said before the virtual graduation ceremonies: ‘I have very fond memories of my time in Bristol, a city that welcomed me and helped me finish my medical degree.’
‘I look forward to speaking to the Health Science students, many of whom will be vital in our ongoing fight against the coronavirus pandemic.’
The full list of speakers and dates of the online events for the Faculties is as follows:
- Friday 17 July, 10 am – 11 am: Health Sciences, Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma
- Monday 20 July, 10 am – 11 am: Social Sciences and Law, Lady Hale
- Friday 24 July, 10 am – 11 am: Arts, TBC
- Tuesday 28 July, 10 am – 11 am: Life Sciences, Sir Paul Nurse (Nobel Prize-winning geneticist, current Chancellor of the University of Bristol)
- Wednesday 29 July, 10 am – 11 am: Engineering, Jenny Griffiths MBE (CEO of Snap Fashion)
- Thursday 30 July, 10 am – 11 am: Science, Dame Julia Slingo (former Chief Scientist of the Met Office, Chair of the University of Bristol’s Cabot Institute for the Environment)
The events will be hosted by the Deans of the University’s six faculties and will include the addresses from the speakers as well as from final year students and performances from student societies.
The online ceremonies are intended to be a temporary occasion to enable final-year graduates to celebrate this summer, as the University has said graduates will be able to celebrate in person at Bristol ‘when it is safe to do so.’
Featured: University of Bristol
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