Published: 7 November 2024
On 6 November, Professor Jill Manthorpe CBE, a distinguished social care and social work researcher, received an Honorary Doctorate of Health from the University of Sunderland in London.
Professor Manthorpe’s research and commitment, over the last 35 years, have positively impacted research approaches and raised the profile of both social care and social work.
Throughout her exceptional career, Professor Manthorpe has emphasised how the workforce is critical to the success of social care and has worked to make the sector “An attractive and compelling profession”.
“In our ageing society,” Professor Manthorpe explains, “social care should be viewed as a solution, rather than a problem, to wider healthcare needs.”.
The Honorary Doctorate of Health was awarded during the university’s graduations held at London’s Southwark Cathedral, in the very same borough where Professor Manthorpe’s early career saw her lead a Peckham community development project.
Decades of research and teaching work in health and social care followed and, in 2001, she was appointed Professor and Director of the Social Care Workforce Research Unit at King's College London.
In 2023, in recognition of her extensive contribution to social work and social care research, she was appointed Commander of the British Empire (CBE) in the late Queen’s final honours list.
Professor Manthorpe’s honorary doctorate award recognises these achievements and, also, her contribution to the University of Sunderland in London, including its Health and Social Care (Top-Up) BSc (Hons) programme.
Upon receiving her honorary doctorate from the University of Sunderland in London, Professor Manthorpe said it was “immense privilege” and she looks forward “to continuing her collaboration with the university’s impressive staff and students”.
Professor Manthorpe’s honorary award comes at an exciting time for the University of Sunderland in London as, in early 2025, it moves to a brand-new campus, close to its current site near Canary Wharf.
The new facilities are set to transform teaching and learning, especially for Nursing and Health courses - with the installation of a nursing simulation suite.