Lyn Dance
Lyn has worked in education for nearly 40 years. Her experience spans teaching and forging bright futures for those in her care through deputy and head teacher roles at special education schools in Gloucestershire, Surrey, and Hounslow.
Lyn was CEO of SAND Academies Trust (of Special Schools) in Gloucestershire and supported special schools with their leadership and Ofsted training through her role as a School Improvement Partner. Lyn’s leadership style encourages innovative working and developing future leaders. Outward looking in her quest for continuous school improvement, she contributes to several collaborative working groups with both special and mainstream schools. Her work has international reach, having advised on special education in South Africa and Belarus.
Lyn is passionate about special education and supporting the whole family. She has met with various MPs to campaign for additional funding for special education. In October 2021, she was awarded the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for services to special education.
This honorary degree recognises Lyn's outstanding contribution to education and specifically special education.
Anne McBride
Anne’s passion for understanding why individuals, of any species including humans, do what they do has been at the heart of her career and life aim. Her aim is to improve human-animal interactions and thereby improve animal welfare, human wellbeing, and that of the environment.
Anne completed a Psychology degree before investigating rabbit behaviour during her PhD. Though best known for her activities in the pet world, she has experience working in various animal contexts including zoos, hill farms, and laboratories. As Anne started practicing as a trainer and clinical behaviourist in the mid-1980s, emerging evidence revealed that owner miseducation, often at the hands of veterinary professionals and trainers, was an exacerbating factor in many problem behaviour cases.
On discovering this lack of understanding of ethology, learning theory and/or human psychology, Anne became passionate about accessible education and her career changed course.
To this day, Anne continues to advance and teach both theory and practice, sharing her expertise with professionals and members of the public a like, including adults and children. Since its inception in 2010, Anne has been an active supporter of the Animal Behaviour and Training Council (ABTC). She advocates for standards of knowledge and skills for training and behaviour professionals as the only long-term route to improving welfare for animals in all contexts.
Anne is aware that none of us journey alone. We learn from and are supported by many others along the way – people from all walks of life. To learn we must engage with an open mind, to remember there are no stupid questions, and always ask why. Only then can we keep our sense of the curious and objectivity alive.
This honorary degree is awarded in recognition of Anne’s outstanding work within the field of companion animal behaviour.
Mel Nicholls
Mel brings her values and experience from world-class sport, her adventurous spirit as a Paralympian, and her motivation as an ultra-endurance athlete, to advocate for disability and women in sport.
Following a series of life-changing strokes in 2008, Mel’s passion for all things equine, sport, and adrenaline-inducing saw her embark on a journey to racing on the world stage.
Mel’s unstoppable spirit was sparked whilst watching the Bejing Paralympics from her hospital bed. Here was an outlet for her love of physical activity and competitive nature, beyond the perceived barriers of physical loss. Parasport became her therapy and ultimately enabled her to regain sport as a core part of her identity.
Four years later, Mel competed in wheelchair racing at the London 2012 Paralympics – 15 months after starting the sport – before representing her country as part of GB Athletics, achieving track world records as well as European and World medal success.
Following the Rio 2016 Paralympics, Mel turned to endurance and road wheelchair racing, alongside her new sport of handcycling, once again achieving international medal success.
Whether solo handcycling the archipelagos, the coasts of Britain and Ireland, or smashing world records handcycling Britain End to End (crew-supported) in just six days, Mel’s blazing a trail through male-dominated ultra endurance and leading the way in ultracycling.
In 2022, Mel embraced her Dream Big motto to complete a paratriathlon – combining handcycling and wheelchair racing with swimming, her biggest challenge yet – and raced for GB once again at her first World Series paratriathlon, finishing just 20 seconds shy of the podium.
Now part of the GB Paralympic world-class programme with British Triathlon, Mel’s leaving no stone unturned in her journey to Paris 2024.
This honorary degree recognises Mel’s significant contribution to the areas of athletics and sports science.
