Uni honour for curling star Eve
Cyclist Mark Beaumont is also recognised
Two Perthshire sporting stars are to be given honorary degrees.
Olympic curler Eve Muirhead and cyclist Mark Beaumont will both receive recognition from two different universities.
Eve will be made a doctor of the University of Stirling in recognition of her contribution to British sport.
The 28 year-old from Blair Atholl will receive her honorary degree alongside 85 students from the faculty of health sciences and sport at the university’s graduation ceremony in Inverness on Friday.
Senior deputy principal professor Malcolm Macleod said: “It is fitting that we are able to celebrate the achievements of Eve Muirhead in the year we celebrate our 10th anniversary as Scotland’s University for Sporting Excellence.
“She is a role model for our graduands and embodies the university’s ambition to ‘be the difference’.”
Olympic bronze medal-winner Eve also has three world championship medals on her CV – gold, silver and bronze – and eight at European championship level.
She has also been Scottish champion seven times between 2009 and 2017.
The ceremony at Inverness Cathedral will also celebrate the success of a cohort of nurses, as well as those graduating with specialist postgraduate degrees and other qualifications, from the Highlands and Western Isles.
And Mark Beaumont, who grew up in Bridge of Cally and last year broke the record for travelling around the world on a bike in just 79 days, will become a doctor at the Open University.
The cyclist, who is also rector of the University of Dundee, said: “It’s a great honour to be recognised by the Open University and I am looking forward to celebrating alongside all those graduating.
“My first connection with the Open University came through my sister Heather, who studied psychology and loved the fact she could gain a degree while living and working abroad.
“The world is changing fast and the Open University is leading the way when it comes to flexible higher education.
“As the rector of a traditional Scottish university, I am looking forward to building a close relationship with the Open University and learning how they are opening up degree learning to so many people.” Beaumont Muirhead Mark Eve