Author and sportsmen recognised with Honorary Fellowships

8 December 2017

University conferred awards to author Jane Johnson, football manager David Moyes and rugby league star Kris Radlinski MBE

An author and two sportsmen have been recognised with Honorary Fellowships from the University of Central Lancashire (UCLan).

Jane Johnson, whose latest book has been published by the University’s Publishing House, joined football manager David Moyes and Wigan Warriors legend Kris Radlinski MBE in collecting their distinguished educational awards.

Jane received her award to acknowledge the significant contribution she has made to the publishing industry.

Her career began at George Allen & Unwin Publishers, where as editor she was responsible for publishing the works of JRR Tolkien. While publishing director for HarperCollins, she oversaw the works of many top name authors. Jane helped bring ‘The Lord of the Rings’ to life when she commissioned an artist to illustrate the novel and she counts publishing George RR Martin’s ‘A Game of Thrones’ as a career highlight. Mostly recently, she has written a historic novel called Pillars of Light that has been published by UCLan.

David, a former player and manager of Preston North End, received his award to acknowledge the significant contribution he has made as a football manager and player.

The Glaswegian centre half made more than 500 league appearances during his playing career. He played for six clubs, including Celtic and Preston North End. He made 172 appearances and scored 19 goals during his time as a centre half at Deepdale. David, who has lived in the city for 24 years, took over the managerial reins in 1998 and led the team from the lower half of Division Two to within touching distance of the Premier League in 2001. 

He then moved to Everton before managing at Manchester United, Real Sociedad and Sunderland. He is currently the manager of Premier League side West Ham United.

Kris received his award to acknowledge the significant contribution he has made to rugby in Great Britain and the support he has provided to the University.

The rugby league fullback made 322 appearances and scored 183 tries for Wigan Warriors during 13 years with the club. He was the first player to score a hat-trick in a Premiership Final and was the youngest winner of the Harry Sunderland man-of-the-match Trophy. He won 10 caps for England, 20 for Great Britain and played in the 1995 World Cup Final. He is now Wigan’s Rugby General Manager and is very supportive of UCLan’s long-standing links to the club.

The trio joined more than 1,500 undergraduate, postgraduate and doctorate students, who took to the stage to collect their awards in front of family and friends during four award ceremonies in Preston’s Guild Hall.