Norwich University of the Arts to award four new Honorary Professorships
The Honorary Professorships celebrate exceptional achievement, creativity and influence across the creative industries.
Norwich University of the Arts will award four new Honorary Professorships at our graduation ceremonies this summer.
One of the University’s highest honours, Honorary Professorships are awarded in recognition of exceptional achievement and alignment with the University’s mission to champion creativity, innovation and cultural impact.
This year’s Honorary Professors are leading figures from the fields of Architecture and Creative Education, Art and Culture, Graphic Design and Creative Education, and Digital Art and Inclusive Practices.
Sir Peter Cook
Architecture and Creative Education
Sir Peter Cook first gained international recognition through the visionary group Archigram, whose conceptual projects continue to influence architectural thinking worldwide. His distinctive built work includes Kunsthaus Graz and recently the LEGO Group Play Pavillion for the Serpentine gallery in London.
He was awarded the RIBA Royal Gold Medal in 2002, knighted in 2007, and has taught at institutions including the Bartlett, the Architectural Association and Harvard. He is a Royal Academician and Senior Fellow of the Royal College of Art.
Bora
Digital Art and Inclusive Practices
Bora is a non-binary transdisciplinary artist, world-builder and storyteller working across 3D animation, sound, sculpture, installation and performance.
Their practice treats world-building as a form of activism, creating immersive ecosystems where queer and trans-species bodies transform beyond assigned categories.
Their ongoing project Birth Tales: Rooms for Trans-Species Resistance and Becoming has been shown at Ars Electronica, Pictoplasma Berlin and London Digital Fashion Week. In 2024 Bora received the Ars Electronica H-O-P-E Program Prize for their audiovisual work Soft Creatures.
Sean Perkins
Graphic Design and Creative Education
Sean Perkins MA RCA, AGI, is a British graphic designer and founding partner of North, the influential London design studio he established in 1995. Known for a refined, modernist approach to branding and identity, he has led creative work for Tate, Barbican, Science Museum, M+ Hong Kong and the Co-op, among others.
A Visiting Professor at Norwich University of the Arts since 2013, he led the development of the University’s current visual identity and served as AGI UK President from 2013 to 2016.
Photo credit: Lisa Whiting Photography for Arnolfini, Bristol, UK
Sutapa Biswas FAAH
Arts and Culture
A British-Indian conceptual artist, who works across a range of media including painting, drawing, photography and film, Sutapa Biswas has spent over forty years exploring how historical narratives collide with untold personal stories.
A key figure in the Black British Art Movement of the 1980s, her iconic works Housewives with Steak-knives and Kali are held in the Tate Collection, and her acclaimed film Lumen (2021) won the ArtFund UK award.
In 2026 she was appointed a Fellow of the Association for Art History. She is also an East Gallery Fellow at Norwich University of the Arts, where she recently completed her film Ballad of the Flowers, Chapter 1, in collaboration with Norwich University of the Arts staff and students. Explore more of Sutapa’s work on her website.
Welcoming the new Honorary Professors, Vice-Chancellor Ben Stopher said:
“It is a privilege to welcome these four new Honorary Professors into our university community. Each has made an outstanding contribution to their field, demonstrating creativity, innovation and excellence throughout their career. Their achievements embody the ambition, curiosity and creative spirit we encourage in our students, and I hope their example will inspire our whole community for many years to come.”
The accolades will be conferred during ceremonies held at Carrow Road Stadium on 14 and 15 July, with more than 800 students from across the University’s undergraduate and postgraduate courses graduating across the two days.
Previous recipients of Honorary Awards from Norwich University of the Arts include internationally celebrated names such as actor and passionate art collector Russell Tovey, award-winning contemporary artist Ingrid Pollard and Ian Griffiths, the Creative Director of Max Mara.
