A DAME and a lord are new honorary graduates of Brunel University.
Dame Kelly Holmes, double gold medallist at the 2004 Athens Olympic Games, received her honorary doctorate at a ceremony last week in front of a crowd of students and parents.
She was not the only athlete to be honoured: former Brunel student and Olympic heptathlete Kelly Sotherton was presented with an honorary masters degree.
The graduation ceremony took place in the university's indoor athletics centre off Kingston Lane in Uxbridge.
Lord Douglas Hurd, former Foreign Secretary, Home Secretary, Northern Ireland Secretary and father of Ruislip-Northwood MP Nick Hurd, was the next to receive an honorary degree, for his outstanding service to the national and international community.
The degree of Doctor of Laws was conferred on him by Lord Wakeham, chancellor of Brunel University and a former colleague.
Lord Wakeham said: "We hold each other in high regard, not only as colleagues but as friends."
Lord Hurd went on to praise the work of the Magna Carta Institute at Brunel, which researches key political, social, and legal issues of modern times.
