Ashdown to receive honorary UU degree

Former Liberal Democrat leader Paddy Ashdown is to receive an honorary degree from the University of Ulster, it was announced…

Former Liberal Democrat leader Paddy Ashdown is to receive an honorary degree from the University of Ulster, it was announced today.

It is in recognition of his peace-keeping work as the international community's High Representative in Bosnia-Herzegovina.

He will receive a Doctor of Laws this summer at a ceremony in the Millennium Forum, Derry, close to the University's Magee Campus.

Lord Ashdown was born in New Delhi but grew up in Northern Ireland. He returned to the as a Royal Marines officer when the Troubles erupted in the early 1970s.

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His political career peaked in 1988 when he was elected Liberal Democrats leader, a post he held until 1999.

After standing down from the Commons in 2001 and being made a peer, he was appointed as UN High Representative in Bosnia-Herzegovina, a role he served until 2005.