Celebrated names from film, fashion and fine art awarded NUA Honorary Doctorates

Distinguished figures from the worlds of film, fashion and fine art have been awarded honorary doctorates at NUA’s 2018 graduation ceremonies.

Designer and educator Wendy Dagworthy OBE was honoured for her services to fashion, art dealer and publisher Karsten Schubert was honoured for his services to curation and fine art, while Oscar-winning VFX designer Paul Franklin and Amanda Nevill, Chief Executive of the British Film Institute,  were awarded doctorates for their services to film.

The quartet join a distinguished cast of honorary doctorates in previous years, which includes textile designer Orla Kiely OBE, Director of the National Portrait Gallery Sandy Nairn CBE, and Phil Carter, an international award winning graphic designer.

They received their honorary doctorates at the university’s graduation ceremonies in St Andrew’s Hall as more than 600 students received their undergraduate degrees on 3 and 4 June 2018.

Professor Wendy Dagworthy OBE, for services to fashion

Wendy Dagworthy has been at the forefront of British fashion and fashion education for the last 40 years. Wendy opened her first business in 1972 – winning a reputation for light, easy-to-wear designs in vibrant colours and prints. Wendy joined the London Designer Collections in 1975 and became a director in 1982. She has worked as a fashion consultant for Betty Jackson, Liberty, and Laura Ashley.

Wendy has made a significant contribution to fashion education, as a lecturer and assessor, and as a course director for the BA Fashion programme at Central Saint Martins. Wendy took a chair at the Royal College of Art in 1998, becoming Professor of Fashion.

Wendy was awarded an OBE in the New Year’s Honours in 2011 for services to the fashion industry.

Karsten Schubert, for services to curation and fine art

Karsten Schubert opened his first gallery in London in 1986 and has been at the vanguard of promoting the work of emerging talent and established artists ever since.

His gallery was among the first to showcase the early work of the Young British Artists and has exhibited a diverse body of work: from Bridget Riley to Rachel Whiteread, Glenn Brown, Michael Craig-Martin and Gerhard Richter.

In 1995, he established the publishing company Ridinghouse with Charles Asprey and Thomas Dane. Ridinghouse is dedicated to publishing the best of art writing and criticism, revisiting art history and exploring individual artists and specific projects through its expanding list of titles and authors.

Paul Franklin, for services to film and visual effects (VFX).

Double Oscar-winner Paul Franklin has created some of the most memorable visual effects sequences in recent cinema history.

Paul’s work on the Christopher Nolan movie, Inception, saw him win both an Academy Award and BAFTA for Best Special Visual Effects in 2010. His close working relationship with Nolan spans the director’s acclaimed Batman trilogy of films from 2008 to 2012: Batman Begins, The Dark Knight, and The Dark Knight Rises. It also led to Paul’s second Oscar in 2014 for creating stunning visual effects for Nolan’s science fiction blockbuster, Interstellar.

Paul is co-founder of DNEG, one of the world’s largest digital effects studios, and his credits stretch more than 20 years in the film industry.

Amanda Nevill CBE FRSA, for services to film and photography

Amanda Nevill is at the forefront of supporting and promoting the British film industry at home and abroad. As Chief Executive of the British Film Institute (BFI), Amanda oversees a wide range of cultural, educational and economic initiatives and allocates lottery funds to help new film projects take flight. Nurturing the next generation of filmmakers and audiences has been a keynote of her leadership of the BFI – as has been the development of digital tools like the BFI Player, a new video-on-demand platform for British, archive and international film.

An Honorary Fellow of the Royal Photographic Society and Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, Amanda was awarded a CBE for services to the film industry in 2015.