Kieran McKenna, Ipswich Town manager, is one of five honorary graduates expected to receive degrees from the University of Suffolk next month.
The achievement is the Tractor Boys’ second promotion in a row, and he is one of five people who will get honorary degrees at graduation ceremonies in October at the University’s Ipswich site.
Boshor Ali, Chair of BSC Multicultural Services, historian Sir Diarmaid MacCulloch, Mike Read MBE, who has done 33 Channel swims, and Professor David Croisdale-Appleby OBE, Chair of Healthwatch England and the Royal College of Physicians, will all receive awards.
Kieran McKenna has guided Town to back-to-back promotions from League One to the Premier League, returning top-tier football to Suffolk for the first time in nearly 25 years.
He was appointed manager in December 2021 and has supervised Portman Road’s unprecedented achievement.
After winning promotion from League One in his first full season as manager, the Blues were promoted to the Premier League in May 2024, becoming only the fifth team to earn back-to-back promotions from the third tier to the Premier League, following an outstanding 2023/24 season.
Kieran remarked, “Being awarded an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Suffolk is a wonderful occasion for both me and my family.
“Suffolk has become a special place for us since we moved here nearly three years ago and to now receive a gesture like this from an institution so central to life in the county is an incredible honour.”
Boshor Ali is a founding member and later Chair of BSC Multicultural Services, formerly known as Bangladeshi Support Center.
He has spent over 25 years diligently inspiring workers and trustees to provide the vision and principles necessary for community service.
Born in 1971 in Sylhet, Bangladesh, he finished his secondary education in Ipswich and had close ties in the Bangladeshi community.
He commented: “I am honoured to be receiving this award and deeply grateful to my colleagues at BSCMS, because it is their hard work and devotion that continues to enable our organisation to maintain its vision.”
Sir Diarmaid MacCulloch was raised in Wetherden, where his father was rector, and later vicar at Haughey.
He attended Churchill College, Cambridge, from 1969 to 1978, and the University of Liverpool from 1972 to 1973. For his doctorate, he studied under the eminent Tudor historian Sir Geoffrey Elton.
From 2011 to 2019, he served as President of the Suffolk Institute of Archaeology and is currently a member of the Suffolk Records Society’s Council. He received a knighthood in the 2012 UK New Year’s Honours List.
He went on: “I’m delighted and feel honoured by this award by the University of Suffolk, that has in a short span already contributed so much to the life of this county that was my childhood home; not least in promoting the study of history both local and worldwide.”
Mike Read MBE represented Great Britain in swimming at the 1960 Rome Olympics, completed 33 Channel Swims, and was awarded Ipswich’s Amateur Sports Personality in 1978 and 1979.
He was President of Sudbury Swimming Club in 1988 and has spent the following 22 years restoring Ipswich’s Broomhill Lido, where he trained for 27 years.
He stated, “One of my greatest regrets in life was having to settle for a master’s degree rather than staying at university for another year to pursue a PhD.
“This wonderful award goes to show that if you live long enough, everything is possible.”
Professor David Crosdale-Appleby OBE began his career in the private sector.
He has spent the last 25 years working to improve the lives of the world’s impoverished, vulnerable, and disabled people.
He has chaired 20 institutions in subjects as diverse as forensic science, health policy and practice, law, social care, and social work, and he has held and continues to hold 14 ministerial roles in the UK and around the world.
He elaborated: “I am honoured to be receiving this award and proud of my association with such an innovative and imaginative university, whose reputation in both the academic world and the world of business grows from strength to strength.”
Professor Jenny Higham, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Suffolk, stated, “We are very much looking forward to welcoming those we are honouring, and we celebrate alongside our graduating students.”