Graduation 2026: meet our Honorary Fellows

Posted 21 September

The Honorary Fellowship recipients at this year’s Graduation were Christine Tacon CBE and Professor Grant Edwards.

Ms Tacon is a Member Nominated Director of the Co-op Group of food, funerals, insurance and legal services businesses.

She is also a Trustee of the Farmers Club Charitable Trust, founder and director of the Women in Food and Farming Network, Chair of the BBC Rural Affairs Committee, was the first Groceries Code Adjudicator, Chair of the graduate development scheme at MDS Ltd and chair of Assured Food Standards (Red Tractor.)

She told the ceremony: “I am truly honoured to be here – it is wonderful to be here with so many talented young people preparing to enter the farming and food industries, on such a special occasion, celebrating 125 years of Harper Adams.

“What an extraordinary time to begin your careers! Our industry is changing at remarkable speed – technology is changing how we produce food, climate pressures demand new ideas, and consumers are asking new questions.

“Across the supply chain, we need people ready not simply to respond to change, but to lead it. I have to admit, I am a little jealous – you are starting out at a moment of enormous possibility.

“I especially hope that the women here today find that the ceilings which held back earlier generations have been smashed – or certainly weakened enough for you to break through them.

“Food and farming need diversity of thought – they need people from farming families, as well as people who have never set foot on a farm, people with different experiences, perspectives and ways of thinking.

“The challenges ahead are too important for everyone to think alike.”

Professor Grant Edwards is Vice-Chancellor of Lincoln University, New Zealand’s specialist land-based institution.

He is a distinguished agricultural scientist, educator and university leader, with a career to advancing research, teaching and innovation in agriculture.

The day before this year’s graduation ceremony, Lincoln University signed an agreement establishing a strategic international partnership focused on the future of agriculture, education, research, leadership development and land-based innovation.

Addressing graduates, Professor Edwards said: “I am delighted to be awarded the Honorary Fellowship of Harper Adams University and it is a privilege to be here today to take part in your graduation ceremony.

“I am a very staunch admirer of Harper Adams University – what it stands for, and the role it plays as a specialist university for the agriculture and food sectors of the world. Things to do with food production, agriculture, animal health and husbandry and sustainable land management – those things that contribute to our sustainable living environment and those that inhabit it.

“Harper Adams University has many similarities to Lincoln University in New Zealand. It is a small university, on the outskirts of Christchurch on the South Island, established 26 years earlier than Harper Adams University – we will celebrate our 150 years in 2028.

“But it has an uncanny resemblance to Harper Adams. Red brick buildings, surrounded by farms. Staff and student bodies who are absolutely focused, and determined, and represent key values of linking to the land.

“I admire many things about Harper Adams – and that is why I feel very privileged to be a Fellow here.

“Its outstanding focus on delivering an outstanding student experience; a learning and teaching environment that is practical and grounded in farms and land, practical application and with industry; its research – which is applied, relevant, and deeply committed to industry and connections with it; and our particular focus on partnerships, both domestic and international, that deliver real-world outcomes and are very tangible.

“It is also a pleasure to be awarded this Fellowship as Harper Adams celebrates 125 years – and I look forward to working with Harper Adams to help shape a better future for the world, and the communities within it, in particular those big grand challenges – feeding the world, protecting our land and water resources, and living well.”