Pam Berry awarded Honorary Fellowship at UWTSD Swansea Graduation ceremony
Pam Berry has today (12 July) been awarded an Honorary Fellowship during UWTSD’s summer graduation ceremonies at the Swansea Arena.
Pam was born in the Swansea Valley in the village of Cwmtwrch. Her association with the University actually began when she trained to be a Teacher at Trinity College Carmarthen. She taught for a year before deciding teaching wasn’t to be her vocation after all.
Pam decided to join the Local Authority Careers Service as an Employment Assistant which turned out to be the beginning of a successful 30 year career. In parallel, Pam served on a number of committees including as a Governor on the Neath Port Talbot College Governing Body and a School Governor at Parkland’s Primary School. This is where she first met Dr Gerry Lewis who later went on to Chair the Swansea Metropolitan University Council.
When Pam retired from the Careers Service, she didn’t stop working. She signed up with a charity Engineering Education Scheme Wales or STEM Cymru and this engagement has continued until now, some 11 years later.
At today’s ceremony, she was honoured in recognition of her outstanding services to the University and to young people. Jane O’Rourke, Executive Director of Human Resources, presented Pam Berry to the congregation. She said:
“It is a very great honour and privilege to present Pam Berry as an Honorary Fellow of the University.
“It is difficult in the time available to capture the scale and breadth of Pam’s contribution to the University Council since she first joined the Board of the West Glamorgan Institute. She has served during times of significant change including the merger between Swansea Metropolitan University and the University of Wales Trinity Saint David. She played a vital role as part of a working group in bringing the two Councils together.
“I spoke with one of our Academic Directors who has worked extensively with Pam and he observed she has always been willing to go the extra mile to achieve goals and to take people with her on that journey. He noted that Pam can be very persuasive at times but her enthusiasm rubs off on others and has brought more people into STEM activities. He considers her as one of the best role models we could have and her dedication, enthusiasm, and willingness to help young people are some of her stand out qualities that has made working with her such a pleasure.
“Pam has always lived and worked in and around Swansea and has been hugely supportive of the University and of so many young people in Schools and Colleges across the region.”
Through her work with EESW STEM Cymru, Pam has brought more links with schools and FE colleges to the University. She has travelled across South Wales to set up STEM projects and support pupils throughout their project journey. On receiving the award, Pam Berry commented:
“I’d like to thank the Vice-chancellor, senior management team and council members for awarding me this honour.
“I’d like also to thank some of the academic staff in engineering, computing and product design for their help and support and in particular to technicians as well as without them I wouldn’t have been able to achieve any success. I can’t congratulate every member of staff that I worked with but I would like to thank the Vice Chancellor, the chair, council, Jane O’Rourke, Sarah Clark and her team and critically Eirwen Nicholls and Margaret Williams in the Vice Chancellor’s office who make our lives as council members far easier by being so helpful.
“I’d like to finish by thanking the university again and to wish the graduates huge success. Can I encourage you to commit to your communities and to volunteer as you’ll get far more out of it, than you put into it, and leading on from what the previous speaker said, it creates better communities as well. Thank you.”
Further Information
Arwel Lloyd
Principal PR and Communications Officer
Corporate Communications and PR
Email: arwel.lloyd@uwtsd.ac.uk
Phone: 07384 467076