Each year, Lincoln Bishop University has the opportunity to award Honorary Doctorates and Honorary Fellowships at its graduation ceremonies. Current Lincoln Bishop staff, students and University Council members were invited to nominate candidates for honorary awards.
Honorary Fellowship is awarded in recognition of outstanding contributions to the University; whilst Honorary Doctorate is awarded to those who have made outstanding contributions to academic achievement, social, economic or cultural life.
We're pleased to announce this year's award recipients, who will be honoured at graduation celebrations in July 2026.
Honorary Doctorates
Gary Aubin
Gary Aubin is the author of The Lone SENDCO, a handbook of 300 questions and answers for busy SENDCOs, and The Parent's Guide to SEND. He is the Director of SEND Programmes and Networks for Whole Education and served on the Labour Government's Curriculum and Assessment Review panel.
Gary is also the Education Endowment Foundation's SEND Associate. In this role, he has worked extensively on sharing the evidence base behind high-quality teaching for SEND, as well as advised on the development of the SENCO NPQ.
As a Consultant, Gary has spoken internationally, advised the BBC, written content for the National Institute of Teaching and given talks to hundreds of Trust, Local Authority and school audiences.
Gary led on SEND provision for a Multi Academy Trust of 10 primary and secondary schools for several years. He is a secondary teacher, former primary and secondary SENDCO and former secondary Head of Year. Gary also authors the SENDMattersUK blog.
Valerie Waby
Valerie Waby is Chief Executive of Linkage Community Trust, a leading charity supporting people with learning disabilities and autism through specialist education, care, and employment services, across Lincolnshire and Yorkshire.
A Chartered Accountant, Valerie has built a career spanning over 30 years across education, health, housing, and community development, driven by a commitment to tackling inequality and enabling people to live independent, fulfilling lives.
Prior to joining Linkage, Valerie was Chief Executive of Acis Group, a Lincolnshire based housing association where she led the development of commercial joint ventures and oversaw significant growth, including expansion into the Sheffield City Region and the development of over 1,200 student housing units, in Sheffield and Nottingham.
Valerie is widely recognised for growing organisations in a purposeful and values-led way, delivering more services to more people ensuring quality and impact remain at the heart of every decision.
Under her leadership, Linkage has strengthened its reach and reputation for high-quality, person-centred provision, particularly in improving outcomes for people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), including developments in specialist education and employability pathways, opening specialist further education campuses across, East Riding, York, and North Yorkshire.
Alongside her executive role, Valerie has contributed nationally through her work with Samaritans and Golden Lane Housing.
A values-driven leader, Valerie champions inclusive practice, workforce development and partnership working.
Jason Watkins
Jason played the title role in The Lost Honour of Christopher Jefferies, for which he won the Best Actor BAFTA. He played Harold Wilson in The Crown. He is DS Dodds in McDonald and Dodds.
Jason was nominated for an Olivier Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in A Servant to Two Masters for the RSC/Young Vic/West End. Recent theatre includes the play, Frozen (The Haymarket), The Twits (Royal Court) Strange Interlude, Landscape with Weapon, Our Class and Inadmissible Evidence (National Theatre), A Laughing Matter (NT and Out of Joint) and The Seagull (The Barbican) opposite Cate Blanchett.
Other Selected Theatre; The Plantagenets, The Plain Dealer (RSC), Carol Churchill’s Blue Kettle and Hearts Desire, (Out of Joint ), The Late Henry Moss by the late Sam Shepard, Midsummer’s Night’s Dream (Almeida Theatre), a Farewell to the Theatre (Hampstead Theatre), The Dumb Waiter,(Oxford Playhouse), Boy Gets Girl, Rafts and Dreams, King Lear (Royal Court), Arden of Faversham (Old Red Lion).
Recent Television Includes: Dirty Business, The Game, Anansi Boys, Des, Archie, Coma, The Catch, The Trick, The Crown (SAG Award Best Ensemble), Line of Duty, Taboo, Inside No 9, A Very English Scandal, Friday Night Dinner, Trollied, Simon Harwood in WIA, Pennyworth in Batman Caped Crusader the Animated Series, for Warner Bros. Other TV work includes; Being Human, Emmy Award Winning Housewife 49, Sex Traffic, Little Dorrit, Funland, Are You Being Served. The Documentary; Jason and Clara In Memory of Maudie.
Film credits include: Dragonfly, The Phoenician Scheme, The Nest, Wicked Little Letters, Hampstead, The Children Act (directed by Richard Eyre), The Man Who Killed Don Quixote, Wild Child, Jason is Gordon Shakespeare in the Nativity film series, Bridget Jones - The Edge of Reason, and High Hopes (directed by Mike Leigh), The Short Film; The One Note Man, (Greece International Film Festival Best Actor. Richard Harris Best Actor Award).
Honorary Fellowship
Dr Stephen Critchley
Dr Stephen Critchley was born in Yorkshire and educated at Leeds Grammar School. He won an Open Scholarship to Oriel College, Oxford, where he read Chemistry. After a short time in the chemical industry, he returned to Oxford where he studied for a doctorate in X-Ray Crystallogrpahy.
After leaving academic life, Stephen qualified as a Chartered Accountant in London, where he worked with clients in the financial sector. He subsequently moved to Cambridge and then to Nottingham, where he became an Audit and Assurance partner in Coopers & Lybrand (subsequently PwC). He worked with both private and public sector clients and also undertook due diligence work. Towards the end of his time at PwC, he led their public sector practice in the East Midlands, specialising in local government and further and higher education.
In 2002, Stephen was appointed Chief Financial Officer of Transport for London (TfL), the body responsible for the London Underground, London’s Buses, the Docklands Light Railway and London’s strategic road network. During his time at TfL, he worked under two Mayors of London, Ken Livingstone and Boris Johnson, and was involved in the early stages of the Crossrail project (now the Elizabeth Line) and London’s preparations for the 2012 Olympic Games.
After retiring from TfL, he has been active in the voluntary sector. Stephen was a trustee of the RAF Benevolent Fund and has had numerous roles with education institutions, including the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, United Learning and Caterham School. He became a member and director of Council of Lincoln Bishop University in 2018 and stepped down from that role earlier in the year. During his time on Council, Stephen served as Chair of the Audit Committee and, for a time, as the Senior Independent Governor.
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