Council member receives honorary fellowship

University council member, The Rt Hon The Earl of Buckinghamshire, has received an honorary fellowship from Buckinghamshire New University in recognition of his significant contribution to the work of the Council of the University.

Miles was amongst a distinguished gathering of individuals who were honoured at Bucks New University's graduation ceremonies held at the Wycombe Swan theatre from 7-11 September.

Miles has spent a long and distinguished career in the world of finance. He started in Noble Lowndes (now part of Mercer) in 1970, and over the course of the next three and a half decades he worked for HSBC Actuaries & Consultants, Wardley Investment Services International (part of HSBC) – where he rose to Managing Director – and then on to Watson Wyatt LLP, where he remained for 13 years as Director and then Partner. He is currently a Director of BESTrustees, having joined in 2004, on his retirement from Watson Wyatt LLP.

Miles sits on seven pension Trustee Boards and is Chair of five of these. He also has several charitable appointments, including President of the Downend Police and Community Amateur Boxing Club and Patron of the Hobart Town (1804) Early Settlers Association (Tasmania), Sleep Apnoea Trust, and MS (Chilterns) Centre. He is a past President of the Friends of the Vale of Aylesbury. He is currently the Chair of The Britain Australia Society and a past Chair of the Cook Society. In 2009, Miles was made a Goodwill Ambassador for the City of Hobart in Tasmania, which was named after his forbear, Lord Hobart in 1804.

He has an interest in national and local politics, and sat in the House of Lords from 1984 to 1999. He was a Member on All Party Groups; Occupational Pensions as well as a Member of two EC Select Committees: Social and Consumer Affairs, and Finance Trade and External Relations. In local politics, after 20 years, he continues to be the President of Buckingham Conservative Association.

Amongst his hobbies, Miles lists real tennis and trekking. He completed a trek in Peru in 2006, raising funds for the MS Society, and in 2009 he completed the Overland Trek from Cradle Mountain to Lake St Clare in the Tasmanian mountain wilderness.

Miles said: "I have enjoyed my association with the university over a period of considerable change. The challenges for Bucks going forward, as with all higher education institutions, are huge, but I have every confidence that the team will continue to be successful and bring significant benefits to Buckinghamshire, its students and staff."