Past Master Gary Dixon received an honorary Doctorate of Laws from the University of Leicester on Wednesday 15 July, conferred during a graduation ceremony at De Montfort Hall. The award recognises his long service to the university's governance, including six years as Chair of its Council.

There is a pleasing symmetry to it. Gary graduated from Leicester in 1987 with a degree in Physics with Astrophysics. Thirty-two years later he was chairing the body that takes the university's final decisions on strategy and direction. The role is unpaid, and carries ultimate responsibility for ensuring the institution is run properly and effectively.

The years in between will read as a familiar arc to members of this Company. Chartered accountancy at PwC. An MBA from Warwick Business School. Then a financial consultancy of his own, built into the market leader in FSA compliance work before he sold it in 2007. Retirement, in the conventional sense, did not follow.

Gary joined Leicester's Council in 2009, serving on its finance, nominations and remuneration committees among others before taking the Chair in 2019. That same year he joined the board of USS, the higher education sector's principal pension scheme. His six years in the Chair covered the pandemic and the university's centenary, the creation of Space Park Leicester, and major new campus facilities including a development at Freemen's, a name this Company is naturally inclined to approve of. His tenure also brought the university's first minority leadership in its hundred-year history, with the appointments of Dame Maggie Aderin-Pocock as Chancellor and Professor Sir Nishan Canagarajah as Vice-Chancellor.

Sir Nishan credited Gary with "wise counsel, firm guidance and prudent advice" and placed on record his appreciation for the time Gary has devoted to public service.

Members will remember Gary as our ninth Master, installed at St Vedast-alias-Foster in November 2022. His year in office coincided with the Coronation of His Majesty The King, during which the Company contributed to the design and production of the Anointing Screen, and included a London Landmarks Half Marathon run in aid of the Company of Entrepreneurs Trust. His non-executive commitments continue, spanning pensions, financial services and charity, including as Chair of Trading 212, a role he took up last year.

Reflecting on the award, Gary said he remains grateful for the education Leicester gave him and the start in life it provided, and that it is a pleasure to watch the university continue to flourish.

Honorary doctorates are not applied for. They are conferred when an institution decides a contribution should not go unmarked. The Company congratulates him.