April 1983 - Maritime Reporter and Engineering News

Honorary Degree Conferred On MacGregor President

Mr. Henri Kummerman, founder and president of the International MacGregor Organization, has been awarded the honorary degree of Doctor of Civil Law by the Senate of the University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne.

Announcing the honor at a dinner in Switzerland to mark Mr.

Kummerman's 75th birthday on February 4, Prof. John B. Caldwell, head of the Department of Naval Architecture and Shipbuilding at Newcastle University, said that the award had been made in recognition of Mr. Kummerman's outstanding contribution to the international maritime industry during a lifetime devoted to pioneering and developing cargo access equipment for merchant ships.

Mr. Kummerman, in thanking Professor Caldwell for his most generous remarks, said that to be so honored by Newcastle University— which boasts one of the most renowned faculties of shipbuilding and naval architecture in the world, made him extremely proud. To have had his lifetime efforts in the advancement of cargo access technology recognized by such an institution of learning was to him a very humbling experience.

"I look upon this honor," Mr.

Kummerman said, "as one to be shared by all those MacGregor people who, over the 35 years of the organization's existence, have striven to serve the shipbuilding and shipping industries. And though we are a worldwide organization, to be honored by the University of Newcastle is a fitting tribute not only to me but to the MacGregor brothers, Robert and Joseph, whose hatch covers first appeared on the drawing boards of their offices at Whitley Bay, situated near the mouth of the River Tyne only 10 miles from Newcastle." The honorary degree will be conferred on Mr. Kummerman at a Congregation to be held at the University on May 13, 1983.

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