Kirsty Young
Kirsty Young will be awarded a Doctor of Laws (LLD) on Wednesday 3 December 2025 during the afternoon ceremony.
Kirsty is one of the most respected broadcasters in the UK. She currently hosts the BBC Sounds podcast, Young Again, interviewing fascinating individuals about their lives, asking the question: if you knew then what you know now, what would you tell yourself?
In September 2022 she presented the BBC coverage of The Funeral of Queen Elizabeth II from St George’s Chapel in Windsor, where her closing remarks were widely recognised as having perfectly captured the mood of the nation. The following year she fronted the BBC’s programming around The Coronation of HM The King and Queen Camilla, covering the solemnity of the ceremonial events at Westminster Abbey and the celebrations at The Coronation Concert the following day.
She was previously the host of Desert Island Discs on Radio 4 for over a decade, during which time she interviewed guests ranging from Theresa May to Bill Gates and from Tom Hanks to Bruce Springsteen. She stood down in 2018 following a diagnosis of fibromyalgia. She returned to broadcasting in May 2022 to anchor four days of coverage for the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.
Her previous roles for BBC Special Events included hosting VE Day 70, The 75th Anniversary of the Battle of Britain and the centenary commemoration of The Battle of the Somme. She has also presented the BBC’s tribute to the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh’s 70th wedding anniversary, Elizabeth and Philip: Love and Duty and fronted the award-winning coverage of The Royal Wedding of Prince Harry and Megan Markle.
In 2017 Kirsty anchored two days of coverage around the 100th anniversary of the Battle of Passchendaele, which went on to win the BAFTA for Best Live Event. Alongside her work with Live Events, Kirsty was the presenter of Crimewatch for seven years, fronted a number of documentary series including The British Family and The British At Work, and has regularly hosted Have I Got News For You. She was President of UNICEF UK from 2016 to 2018.