Karan Bilimoria gets 11th doctorate in Britain

Noted entrepreneur Karan Bilimoria, who arrived from India in the early 1980s to study and went on to found a popular beer brand, has been awarded his 11th honorary doctorate for his commitment to international students coming to Britain.

A member of the House of Lords, Bilimoria, 56, was conferred the doctorate this week by the University of Westminster.

He has received similar doctorates from Brunel University, Heriot Watt University, Staffordshire University, London Metropolitan University, Cranfield University, the University of West London, Exeter University, University of Birmingham, York St John University and the University of East Anglia.

Bilimoria has often intervened in the ongoing discourse over student visas and the drop in number of Indian students coming here.

In 2005, he become the youngest ever chancellor in the UK when he was instated as chancellor of the Thames Valley University, now The University of West London; in 2014 he was appointed chancellor of the University of Birmingham.

Bilimoria said: “It is an enormous honour to have received such a well recognised accolade from the University of Westminster this week. It is a pleasure to work with the international students of the University, helping them gain the experience they need they will be lifelong ambassadors and friends of our wonderful.

Britain is a global leader with its universities with some of the finest in the world and I am very proud and privileged to have the opportunity to play a role in our universities which are the jewel in the crown of the UK.”

Andrew Linn, Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities said: “The University of Westminster is one of the most internationally diverse universities in the country and indeed in the world.  Lord Bilimoria’s commitment to students’ international experience, recognized by his election as President of The UK Council for International Student Affairs, is of great importance to our community".

" Lord Karan Bilimoria is an inspiration to us all, truly a man of many parts.  Entrepreneur, Leader, Diplomat, Friend and Champion of International Students, it is both a pleasure and an honour to award him the degree of Doctor of Letters Honoris Causa.”