‘Humbled and awed’ Annie Lennox takes on Glasgow Caledonian role

Annie Lennox has been installed as the first female chancellor of Glasgow Caledonian University.

The singer-songwriter and social activist said she was “humbled and awed beyond measure” to be appointed to the position at the university.

She pledged to use her ceremonial leadership role to further the university’s mission to promote the common good during a special ceremony at its Glasgow campus yesterday.

The Eurythmics star succeeds Nobel Peace Prize winner Professor Muhammad 0 Annie Lennox posed in her chancellor’s robes Yunus in the role of chancellor.

She said: “I am humbled and awed beyond measure. I only wish my parents, grandparents and great-grandparents could be here today to witness this special occasion, as it would have filled them with pride and disbelief, proving in some way that miracles can sometimes happen. After all, it’s with thanks to them that I am here in the first place. “

The new chancellor said she has no degree herself but could be described as “an honorary graduate from the school of life”.

She added: “I come from a long line of hard-working Scots from the times when class boundaries, economic identities and gender roles were very firmly established.

“Young women from working-class backgrounds gaining university degrees were as rare as kangaroos in the Antarctic.”