UNESCO honour for chairman of Leicester’s Phoenix

Phoenix is delighted to announce that it’s chairman Professor Alan Tuckett has received a top honour from UNESCO in recognition for his contribution to developing lifelong learning worldwide.

A Leicester resident, Professor Tuckett was awarded the distinction of ‘UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning (UIL) Honorary Fellow’ at a ceremony in Hamburg, Germany on Tuesday 27 September.

A leading authority on adult education, Professor Tuckett has honorary degrees from eight universities, is Professor of Education at Wolverhampton University and is a visiting professor at Leicester University.

Alan said: “I am deeply honoured by this award. The UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning leads the world in my area of work, so I am naturally flattered to be recognised in this way.”

Between 1988-2011, Professor Tuckett was Chief Executive of NIACE, the National Institute of Adult Continuing Education, where he started Adult Learner’s Week in 1992, an annual festival which spread to 55 countries. He was also President of the International Council for Adult Education from 2011-2015, and awarded an OBE for services to adult education in 1995.

Alan is Phoenix’s Chair of Trustees, a position to which he was appointed in August 2014.