Former Vice-Chancellor Awarded Prestigious Honorary Accolade
Former Solent University, Southampton Vice-Chancellor, Professor Graham Baldwin, was awarded the honorary degree of Doctor of the University today (Friday 8 October), in recognition of his outstanding career in higher education.
Graham is the current Vice-Chancellor of the University of Central Lancashire having returned after being the Vice-Chancellor of Solent University, Southampton for five years.
Prior to joining Solent, he worked at the University of Central Lancashire in a number of senior-management roles, culminating in the role of Deputy Vice-Chancellor. He also had a mid-career secondment into the nuclear industry where he worked as the National Skills Research Director for the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority.
On receiving his award, Professor Baldwin says: “It is an honour to be appointed as the Vice-Chancellor at Solent University so to receive an honorary degree of Doctor of the University is the icing on the cake. It is great to be back at this fantastic university which does so much to create opportunity and to transform lives.”
Graham is currently Chair of the Department for Transport’s Maritime Skills Commission, having been appointment by the relevant Minister in 2019, Chair of the University Vocational Awards Council, Chair of the Lancashire Innovation Board, Deputy Chair of the Universities and Colleges Employers Association (UCEA) and the Treasurer of Million Plus, the Association for Modern Universities. He also sits on the Board of the East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust.
Internationally, Graham is an Honorary Professor at Hebei University and a Visiting Professor at the National Academy of Education Administration in Beijing. In 2014 Hebei Province, China conferred on him the title of ‘Outstanding Foreign Expert’.
He has a First Degree in Sport Studies from the Madeley School of Physical Education, a Master’s degree in Sports Science from Loughborough University and a Doctorate in Exercise Physiology from the Faculty of Science and Engineering at the University of Wales, Bangor. He is a qualified teacher of Physical Education with a PGCE from the University of Wales.
A lifelong sports enthusiast, Graham played rugby until injury forced him to retire and turn to the gentler pursuit of cycling, which he still does today.
