TV broadcaster receives top honour from University of Leicester

British-Nigerian historian, producer and presenter David Olusoga OBE receives honorary degree of Doctor of Laws.

Broadcaster and historian David Olusoga OBE has been made an honorary graduate by the University of Leicester.

The University bestowed the honorary degree at its graduation ceremony on Friday 18 January 2019 at De Montfort Hall in Leicester.

David is one of the UK’s foremost historians, whose books and television programmes explore the themes of empire, military history, race, slavery, and contemporary culture in the UK and USA.

He was made an OBE in the recent New Year’s Honours List.

Professor Paul Boyle CBE, President and Vice-Chancellor, said: “David has done more than any historian of his generation to build public recognition for minority cultures in Britain today. We are honouring him for these achievements and his contributions to inter-cultural relations. As an alumnus of the University, we are proud to have played a part in his development into one of the UK’s foremost historians.”

David is the author of Civilizations: Encounters and the Cult of Progress, The World’s War (which won First World War Book of the Year), Black & British: A Forgotten History (which was awarded both the Longman-History Today Trustees Award and the PEN Hessell-Tiltman Prize) and The Kaiser’s Holocaust: Germany’s Forgotten Genocide and the Colonial Roots of Nazism. He writes for The Observer, The Guardian, The New Statesman and BBC History Magazine.

David’s work as a television presenter includes Civilizations (BBC 2), Black and British: A Forgotten History (BBC 2), The World’s War (BBC 2), two series of A House Through Time (BBC 2) and the BAFTA-winning Britain’s Forgotten Slave Owners (BBC 2).

Speaking of his honorary degree, David said: “I spent a very happy year at the University of Leicester studying for an MA. I have fond memories of both the University and the city, so it means a great deal to me that the University has chosen to recognise my work all these years later with this honorary degree.”