The Chief Executive of award-winning youth charity Young Scot today (Thursday October 26) received an honorary degree from Edinburgh Napier University.

Louise Macdonald began her career as a print journalist before moving to the voluntary sector, where her groundbreaking work has been recognised with a string of honours.

She was awarded an OBE in 2015, and a year later was named Female Director of the Year in Scotland and Third Sector Director of the Year in the UK by the Institute of Directors.

This year she was appointed as independent Chair of the new First Minister’s Advisory Council on Women and Girls, set up by FM Nicola Sturgeon to raise awareness of gender issues and champion equality.

Prior to moving to Young Scot, where she was appointed Chief Executive in 2008, Louise worked for community projects specialising in volunteering and social enterprise, before moving into national programmes supporting young people.

Earlier this year, through her role at Young Scot, Louise was elected by her international peers to become President of the European Youth Card Association, a membership body of 37 countries who provide youth mobility services to over 6.5m young people across Europe, encouraging active citizenship and inclusion.

Today she joined hundreds of students at a ceremony in the Usher Hall to receive an Honorary Doctorate of the University. Louise said: “I am thrilled to be awarded this honour by Edinburgh Napier, particularly given their commitment and hard work around widening access and participation for all young people – an issue that is close to my heart.

“I have seen first-hand how having the opportunity to learn in a place like this can transform the lives of young people and I hope I can continue to play my part in breaking down the barriers to allow even more brilliant and diverse young Scots to take that path.”

The other Edinburgh Napier University honorary degree recipients at this week’s graduation celebrations are:

• Neil Rackham, world-renowned sales expert, received an Honorary Doctorate of Business Administration on Wednesday October 25.
• Professor Sally Brown, education consultant, will receive an Honorary Doctorate of Education on the afternoon of Thursday October 26.

Professor Andrea Nolan, Principal and Vice-Chancellor of Edinburgh Napier University, said: “It is wonderful to see people who have made such a significant impact in the worlds of business and education joining our celebrations.

“Their drive, talent and enthusiasm will inspire our students as they set out to make their own mark on the world.”

World-renowned sales expert Neil Rackham today (Wednesday October 25) received an honorary degree from Edinburgh Napier University.

Professor Rackham pioneered ‘consultative selling’ and has been a consultant to executives at more than 40 of the US Fortune 500 companies. He has worked with bosses at a string of leading businesses, including IBM, Xerox, Microsoft and KPMG.

Based in America, the English-born psychology graduate has also produced a series of influential titles on sales and marketing.
His business writing has been translated into more than 50 languages, and he has even turned his hand to poetry and science fiction in his spare time.

Today he joined hundreds of Edinburgh Napier students at a ceremony in the Usher Hall to receive an Honorary Doctorate of Business Administration.

Professor Rackham said: “I am delighted and honoured to be recognised by the university in this way. I have a deep affection for Scotland, and have enjoyed working with Edinburgh Napier over the last two years to enhance its reputation as a learning environment for professional selling at a time when sales-ready graduates are much sought after.”

The other Edinburgh Napier University honorary degree recipients at this week’s graduation celebrations are:
• Louise Macdonald, chief executive of award-winning charity Young Scot, will receive an Honorary Doctorate of the University on the morning of Thursday October 26.
• Professor Sally Brown, education consultant, will receive an Honorary Doctorate of Education on the afternoon of Thursday October 26.

Professor Andrea Nolan, Principal and Vice-Chancellor of Edinburgh Napier University, said: “It is wonderful to see people who have made such a significant impact in the worlds of business and education joining our celebrations.

“Their drive, talent and enthusiasm will inspire our students as they set out to make their own mark on the world.”

A new graduate from Edinburgh has been recognised by Queen Margaret University (QMU), Edinburgh for her excellent performance during her psychology degree.

Marta Isibor, who is 32 years old and is originally from Poland, graduated from QMU with a BSc (Hons) Psychology. Her incredible efforts throughout her degree journey were recognised by the British Psychological Society when she was presented with the Society’s Undergraduate Award 2017 for achieving the highest overall scores on her degree programme.

This special commendation is awarded once a year to QMU’s top performing final year psychology student.

Marta, who has lived in Scotland for ten years, has juggled significant family responsibilities whilst studying for her degree. She is a busy mother of two beautiful young boys.

In addition to the British Psychological Society award, Marta also gained first prize in the Edinburgh University Neurological Society National Conference essay competition for her work on the contribution of psychology to present understanding of schizophrenia. The article has since been published in the Cambridge Medicine Journal.

She has also won first prize poster presentation award at the Queen Margaret University first Undergraduate Psychology and Sociology Conference. The poster illustrated her dissertation research study.

Discussing her work, she said: “I used my dissertation to study skin picking disorder which is a condition affecting 1.5% – 5.4% of the population. Compulsive skin picking (CSP) is characterised by the repetitive picking of the skin which ultimately causes damage and distress.

“CSP is classified under obsessive-compulsive and related disorders and is often repetitive, ritualistic and tension reducing. I was really interested in studying this area as the condition is so under researched and the people who are affected are really struggling.”

Marta continued: “I recently presented my research at a conference at King’s College London which was well received. I’m really enthusiastic about further developing this research at master’s level.”

The abstract of the work has been published in the Frontiers of Psychiatry journal, landing Marta her second academic publication as an undergraduate.

Marta is currently working in the Royal Edinburgh Hospital as an honorary assistant psychologist but is keen to return to QMU to do a Masters in Research.

Discussing QMU, she said: “I really enjoyed my time at QMU as the university is small and friendly. It’s easy to get to know your lecturers and I felt I got more individual guidance from academic staff that I may have got at a larger institution. It also has a very helpful learning support service which I found very useful in my first year of study.”

Stephen Darling, Senior Lecturer in Psychology, was Marta’s personal academic tutor. He said: “Marta’s success deserves celebration – she has overcome many obstacles to emerge with a highly impressive final degree. I am delighted that she intends to stay within the area of psychology, and in a world where we have so many crucial issues with regard to mental health, I believe she, alongside our other graduates, will go on to make a real difference.”

Marta was joined by her husband, mother, sister, and two sons at the graduation ceremony in July which took place at Edinburgh’s Usher Hall.

A Building Research Establishment research scientist who progressed through the organisation to become group chief executive yesterday (Wednesday 28 June) received an honorary degree from Edinburgh Napier University.

The award comes as it emerged that Dr Peter Bonfield has also been appointed to a Government fire safety advisory panel set up to implement lessons from the Grenfell Tower blaze.

Dr Bonfield is passionate about the role science and engineering play in finding solutions to the challenges facing the built environment, with sustainability his main focus.

Originally a materials scientist with a PhD in wind energy and the design of turbine blades, he has helped build university centres of excellence which have raised more than £60m in research funding and created a strong BRE research base.

In May 2012 Dr Bonfield received the prestigious Peter Stone Award from the Chartered Association of Building Engineers (CABE) in recognition of his outstanding contribution to building engineering and the built environment.

A passionate cyclist and former national champion, he was also awarded an OBE for services to research and innovation in the construction industry in 2012.

Today he joined hundreds of Edinburgh Napier students at a ceremony in the Usher Hall to receive an Honorary Doctorate of Engineering.

Dr Bonfield said: “I am so pleased and honoured to receive this award from a university that I have long admired for its pioneering, ambitious and impactful research and teaching that is so distinctive.

“It is a great pleasure to have this new association.”

The other Edinburgh Napier University honorary degree recipients at this week’s graduation celebrations are:
• Professor Julie Fitzpatrick, Scientific Director of the Moredun Research Institute, receives an Honorary Doctorate of Science on Thursday June 29.
• Josh Littlejohn, social entrepreneur and co-founder of Social Bite, receives an Honorary Doctorate of Enterprise on Friday June 30
Professor Andrea Nolan, Principal and Vice-Chancellor of Edinburgh Napier University, said: “It is wonderful to see people who have made such a significant impact in the worlds of business, science and industry joining our celebrations.

“Their drive, talent and enthusiasm will inspire our students as they set out to make their own mark on the world.”