Suffolk film producer and top-selling historian to be honoured at autumn graduation

A prolific broadcaster and an historical fiction author will be awarded honorary doctorates at the University of Suffolk’s graduation ceremonies in Ipswich next month.

Suffolk-based broadcaster and producer Emma Freud OBE and author Dr Alison Weir will both be recognised at the ceremonies being held on Ipswich Waterfront in October, joining a list of notable names such as Ed Sheeran, Kerry Ellis and Angela Rippon CBE to have received the honours in previous years.

Emma is the co-creator of the Make Poverty History campaign, a co-producer for the Live 8 concerts and creative director of Comic Relief where she worked for more than 30 years.

A seasoned broadcaster for the likes of BBC Radio 4, host of NTLive and a Columnist of the Year award winner for her series of articles on living in New York published in The Telegraph, Emma was also awarded an OBE for services to the charitable sector in 2011.

Since 1991 she has worked with Richard Curtis as either a script editor or co-producer on 18 films, including Four Weddings and a Funeral, Bridget Jones’ Diary, Notting Hill, Love Actually and the Suffolk-inspired Yesterday.

For the last two years she has hosted The Archers podcast on the BBC.

Emma said: “I’m incredibly honoured to receive this honorary degree from the University of Suffolk. I’ve lived in Suffolk my entire life, and loved it always – its beauty, creativity, authenticity, peace and integrity – a community whose warmth and generosity I’ve cherished.  

“I’m overjoyed that 87 years after my great-grandfather died, I’m becoming the next Dr Freud in my family, and I fully intend to insist that my children use my full title from now on.

“Most importantly, the day belongs to the students who have worked so hard to reach this moment. It is a real privilege to celebrate alongside them and I hope they carry forward the same resilience, curiosity and sense of possibility that brought them here.”

Emma’s great-grandfather was Dr Sigmund Freud, the noted neurologist and father of psychoanalysis.

Dr Alison Weir is the UK’s top-selling female historian (and fifth-bestselling historian overall in the UK), selling more than three million books worldwide and attending more than 1,190 events.

She has published 22 history books, most recently Queens at War, the fourth volume in her quartet exploring England’s Medieval queens, as well as 17 historical novels.

Her novels include the six-part Tudor Queens series about the wives of Henry VIII which began in 2016 and each became Sunday Times top-10 bestsellers.

Her latest novel, The Boleyn Secret, was published earlier this year in May.

Since 2011 she has been CEO of Alison Weir Tours, which offer high-end 10-day historical tours each year. She is also a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and an honorary life patron of Historic Royal Palaces.

Before becoming a published author in 1989, Alison had pursued a career in civil service management, and between 1991 and 1997, while researching and writing books, ran her own school for children with learning difficulties.

Alison said: “I am absolutely delighted to be awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Suffolk. It is a very special honour and I take great pride and pleasure in accepting.”

Honorary doctorates are awarded each year to individuals in recognition of their outstanding achievement or distinction, which can include achievement in the face of disadvantage, their contribution to the educational or cultural wellbeing of society, business or industry, academic distinction in areas of interest to the university, or for public or community service that exceeds professional requirements.

The honorary graduates will join the ceremonies attended by graduating students, which this year run from Friday 16 October to Wednesday 21 October.

To find out more about previous honorary graduates from the University of Suffolk, head to the webpage here.