Royal Holloway, University of London, has awarded five new Honorary Fellowships.
Standing: Nick Perryman, Vice chair of Council. Hon Fellows Seated (L-R): Professor David Denney, Dr Pirkko Koppinen, Anastasios Paul Leventis CBE OFR, Bobby Seagull, Judith Weir CBE, Standing: Professor Julie Sanders, VC and Principal, Shilpi Shrestha, Mace Bearer (Development Operations)
Professor David Denney, Dr Pirkko Koppinen, Anastasios Leventis CBE OFR, Bobby Seagull and Judith Weir CBE were conferred at this year’s ceremony held at the University on 7 June 2023.
Honorary Fellowships recognise the outstanding contributions made by individuals to the life and work of the University or to education in general.
Professor David Denney is Emeritus Professor of Social and Public Policy at Royal Holloway and has been awarded an Honorary Fellowship in recognition of his achievements as a teacher and academic and for his extensive service to the University and our students, before and after his retirement.
David has worked as a probation officer and developed the teaching of criminology and was a founder member of the Centre for Criminology and Sociology in 2010. He has written extensively in international journals, edited collections and as a single book author, with his research extending more than 40-years.
David has wide experience of policy related governmental and commercial consultancies. Since retirement in 2019, he has carried out research and consultancy for the Home Office and the Commission for Countering Extremism.
He has also served as reviews editor and Chair of the Editorial Board for the journal Social Policy and Administration. David is currently a member of the ESRC Peer Review College.
Dr Pirkko Koppinen was awarded an Honorary Fellowship for her academic achievements in literature and the vital role she has played, both as a teacher and sponsor of our students.
Pirkko was born in Finland where she studied and worked in the hospitality industry. After emigrating to the UK in 1995, she joined Royal Holloway in 1998 as a mature student in the Department of English. Then she embarked on an MA in Medieval Studies and was awarded the Thomas Holloway Scholarship to undertake doctoral studies on the semiotics of Old English poetry.
Pirkko taught medieval literature for nine years at Royal Holloway, during which time, she was awarded two teaching prizes.
In 2016, Pirkko founded the Koppinen Family Foundation with her husband Markku and daughter Annemari and, as an ardent supporter of Royal Holloway, she set up the Dr Pirkko Koppinen Scholarship.
Anastasios Leventis CBE OFR, was born in Ghana and was recognised for his work with A.G. Leventis Foundation and his profound and longstanding commitment to supporting the Hellenic Institute and Hellenic Studies at Royal Holloway.
Anastasios was educated in England and France, before he joined the Leventis Group in Nigeria, serving as a Director of Leventis Group International and Nigerian Company Boards.
Since 2003, he is the Chairman of the A G Leventis Foundation, which has been offering extensive support for philanthropic, educational, cultural, artistic and environmental causes around the world.
Over the past three decades, the A G Leventis Foundation has been the major benefactor of The Hellenic Institute at Royal Holloway, funding scholarships, publications, conferences, concerts, research projects, academic and administrative posts.
He was named Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List of 2004 and his humanitarian work is recognised internationally.
Bobby Seagull is a maths teacher, author and broadcaster and has been awarded an Honorary Fellowship for his powerful advocacy for mathematics and his much-valued support of the University.
Growing up on an East London council estate, he won a scholarship to study A-levels at Eton College. After studying at Oxford and Royal Holloway (BSc Economics and Mathematics, 2007), he spent his 20s in finance as a trader at investment bank Lehman Brothers and Chartered Accountant at PwC.
He founded an educational social enterprise that has supported thousands of sixth-formers applying to university and donated more than £1 million to educational charitable causes.
Aged 30, he retrained to become a maths teacher and rose to fame on University Challenge and has since gone onto become a vocal advocate for numeracy and literacy, especially through his research on maths anxiety.
He has authored The Life-Changing Magic of Numbers, hosts the Maths Appeal podcast and writes for Financial Times. He is a regular on TV, most notably as a champion for mathematics.
Judith Weir CBE is a British composer who has been recognised for her achievements as a musician and for the inspiration she continues to provide for our students.
Judith worked alongside the great English composer John Tavener during her teens, before studying music at Cambridge University.
In the 1990s, she directed the Spitalfields Festival and was resident composer with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, collaborating with the orchestra’s then director, Simon Rattle.
Judith has written several operas which have been performed around the world and since 2014, she has held the historic post of Master of the Queen’s (from 2022, King’s) Music; the first woman to do so in 400 years. In this role she has also taken the opportunity to champion school and amateur music on a national scale.
A musical interlude performed by the Choir of Royal Holloway directed by Rupert Gough, included music by Judith Weir during the Ceremony. A response on behalf of the new Honorary Fellows was made by Bobby Seagull.
