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Nobel Peace Prize medallist Lou McGrath OBE to receive honorary degree
Lou is CEO of ‘Find a Better Way’, a charity founded by football legend Sir Bobby Charlton, which provides funding to universities undertaking research into better detection systems for landmine clearance, prosthetics, regenerative medicine and better amputation techniques.
He will be awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Laws at 2pm on Thursday 28 July.
In 1997, Lou received a Nobel Peace Prize medal for his work as a founding member of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines.
In the early 1990s, Lou began working on a campaign on landmines and was involved in the early development of the clearance organisation the Mines Advisory Group - MAG, assisting in the setup of the first clearance programmes in northern Iraq, Cambodia, Angola and Laos. From 1995, his work for the campaign, both in the UK and internationally, was focused on conducting research into the countries and companies that were producing and exporting landmines and using many covert ways to find the evidence that could be brought to the attention of the public through the media.
Much of that research provided invaluable evidence for the campaigners in their negotiations with governments. In 1997, 120 governments signed the Mine Ban Treaty in Ottawa, Canada. It was the fastest international weapons treaty that had been brought about by coordinated civil society groups drawn from countries on every continent.
In addition, Lou served as CEO to MAG for 14 years. Under his leadership both MAG’s income and its landmine clearance programmes grew substantially. He later established MAG America in Washington DC, opening the organisation’s humanitarian work to new sources of funding.
He has played a key role in the development of landmine clearance techniques which MAG has implemented in more than 35 countries since its foundation in 1989, and has overseen the growth of the organisation into one of the world's leading agencies providing mine clearance, ammunition disposal, destruction and safe stockpiling of abandoned and ignored weapon caches.
In 2007 he was awarded an OBE for services to landmine clearance.
Leeds Beckett University Chancellor, Sir Bob Murray CBE, said: “It is almost impossible to measure the incredible work that Lou McGrath OBE has done at an international level; campaigning against landmines and implementing clearance programmes around the world.
“He has made a difference to the lives of so many people and is an inspiration, not just to our students and graduates – but to us all. We could not be happier to recognise his work with this award and are very much looking forward to welcoming him to our Headingley Campus to celebrate with us as we honour the achievements of our graduating students.”
The full list of honorary degrees to be awarded by Leeds Beckett University can be found here.