Top achievers in art, diversity and business headline Honours Awards 2022

Charlie Swinbourne has been awarded a Doctor of Arts in recognition of his creative work on sketch shows and UK soaps including Eastenders and Casualty. Charlie grew up in a deaf family and is partially deaf himself.

Charlie said: “I'm deeply honoured to receive this award. Coming from a deaf family and being part of the deaf community, my work has always been very personal to me, and I'm very proud that it has been recognised in this way by the University.” 

Professor Ian Campbell, Interim Vice-Chancellor at the University, said: “The University awards Honorary Degrees to high-profile figures that make a significant contribution to their field of expertise.

“We wanted to celebrate and acknowledge the work of Adesua in the creative arts industry. She is a real champion of the University and of Wolverhampton and will no doubt be an inspiration for our students, graduates and staff.

“This year we are also recognising a range of people from across the arts, diversity and business sectors, in particular marking our continued celebration of providing deaf support and deaf studies at the University for 27 years.  We are looking forward to celebrating with all of our Honorary Graduates at our graduation ceremonies next week.” 

The full list of honorary recipients and their awards is below:

Claudette Elaine Johnson - Honorary Degree of Doctor of Arts. Claudette is known for her large-scale drawings of Black women and involvement with the BLK Art Group. Her work is held in numerous public collections, including Tate, British Council Collection, Arts Council Collection, Manchester Art Gallery, Wolverhampton Art Gallery, Rugby Museum, and Herbert Art Gallery & Museum.

Adesua Etomi-Wellington - Honorary Degree of Doctor of Arts. Adesua is one of the most in-demand, versatile and successful talents from the African continent. She has starred in many of the most successful Nollywood blockbuster movies of all time and has a global following of millions on Social Media. 

Charlie Swinbourne - Honorary Degree of Doctor of Arts. An award-winning director and screenwriter focusing on deaf culture, Charlie Swinbourne is recognised for putting deaf people and sign language at the heart of his work.

Phil Loach - Honorary Degree of Doctor of Professional Services. Phil Loach is the Chief Fire Officer for West Midlands Fire Service (WMFS) and is responsible for the provision of emergency response, business safety and community safety services to over 2.7 million people across the West Midlands.

Dr Satya Sharma – Honorary Degree of Doctor of Health and Wellbeing. Dr Sharma worked as a General Medical Practitioner for 35 years, retiring in 2013.  He was awarded an MBE (Most Excellent Order of the British Empire) in 2011 and awarded a Fellowship of the British Medical Association (BMA) for extraordinary services in 2014.

Herminder Channa – Honorary Degree of Doctor of Education. Herminder is currently Regional Director for Oasis in the Midlands, Lead Ofsted Inspector, a Local Leader of Education (LLE) and a Magistrate. Herminder chose teaching as a profession as she is driven by the idea that access to an excellent standard of education is a birthright for all. 

Helen Silvester - Honorary Degree Fellowship. As Regional Director for the Americas, Helen Silvester leads the British Council’s cultural relations mission in 13 countries in North America, Latin America and the Caribbean. The work she oversees engages more than six million people in face to face and digital programmes in arts and culture, education and the English language, reaching nearly 50 million people through publications, broadcast, online and social media.

Kuli Kohli - Honorary Degree of Doctor of Letters. Kuli Kohli was born in India with cerebral palsy. She lives in Wolverhampton and is married with 3 children and, after 32 years, retired from City of Wolverhampton Council. Her pamphlet, Patchwork and full poetry collection A Wonder Woman, are published by Offa’s Press. She runs the Punjabi Women’s Writing Group.

Alan Jarvis – Honorary Degree of Doctor of Social Sciences. Alan is a qualified youth and community worker and has supported young people for over 40 years, starting as a volunteer warden.

The graduation ceremonies will take place from Monday 5 September to Saturday 10 September 2022. Over 3,000 students have confirmed their attendance at 13 ceremonies which will take place at The Grand Theatre in Wolverhampton City Centre. 

The students will join a community of over 140,000 graduates in 130 countries across the world, becoming part of the University’s global alumni network. 

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