The UOC awards Brenda Gourley an honorary doctorate
Brenda Gourley is to be awarded an honorary doctorate by the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (Open University of Catalonia, UOC) on Thursday 24 February. Gourley is to receive the highest academic distinction awarded in recognition of an individual's merits and labours. UOC President Imma Tubella, sponsor of the new honorary doctor, and Josep Vilarasau, Chair of the FUOC's Advisory Board, are to preside over the ceremony, which is to be held at the UOC's headquarters at noon.
Professor Brenda Gourley was Vice-Chancellor and CEO of The Open University in the United Kingdom from 2002 to 2009. Before that she occupied the same position at one of South Africa's largest universities, the University of Natal (now KwaZulu-Natal). She had been at the same university occupying successive posts as Dean of the Faculty of Economics and Management and Deputy Vice-Chancellor, thus combining a professional career with a career in academic management ranging over thirty years of momentous changes in higher education and in the country's history.
Her interests include trends and strategies in higher education, focusing above all on the impact of technology, the field of open and distance education, leadership, ethics, and the role of universities in the community. She is a founding member and on the Steering Committee of the Talloires Network, which brings together universities and institutions that are committed to civil responsibility.
She champions the open educational resource movement, and is a member of the Open Education Foundation's International Advisory Board. She contributed to the Open University's being the first British university to offer a wide range of its educational resources freely over the web, where it remains an exemplar. She is also a great supporter of the role of higher education in promoting social justice and finding a sustainable way out of poverty.
She holds and has held a range of positions on boards and foundations, serving two terms of office as Chair of the Association of Commonwealth Universities and two terms of office on the Board of the International Association of Universities as well as many others in various parts of the world. She also has numerous publications in books, journals and periodicals and is a frequent speaker at conferences and gatherings all over the world.
In recognition of her work in the field of higher education, she has received a number of honorary titles and distinctions including those from the University of Nottingham, (1997), Richmond University, (2004), the University of Abertay, (2004), the University of Quebec (2007), the University of Pretoria (2008), and the Open University of the Netherlands (2009). She has also been awarded an honorary doctorate from Allama Iqbal Open University, Pakistan (2007) in recognition of her eminence in the field of distance education and distinguished service to humanity; and an Honorary Fellowship of the Open University of Israel (2008) in recognition of her commitment to broadening access of the community to higher education, among other distinctions. She spends here time between Brighton in the UK and South Africa. She is also a Fellow of Tisch College at Tufts University in Boston.
Award ceremony live over the web
The award ceremony will be streamed live over the internet from noon.
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