October 18, 2022

David Harrison awarded an honorary Doctorate by the Open University

The Harrison Foundation is proud to announce that David Harrison, our founder, was made an honorary Doctor of the Open University at a ceremony in Harrogate on Saturday 15 October 2022.

The award was made in recognition of David’s success and achievements over the last 40 years, both in business and in education, particularly through his work on social mobility.

David has a long standing relationship with Open University (OU), having achieved his MBA at the OU and later setting up the True Potential Centre for the Public Understanding of Finance at the OU Business School. Through the free personal finance courses that David helped to create over one million people have improved their understanding of finance and investing to date.

Just last month, David also founded the new digital Harrison Centre for Social Mobility in partnership with the OU, bringing free courses in business, enterprise and finance to millions more people across the UK.

At the awarding ceremony, Devendra Kodwani, Executive Dean of Business and Law at the Open University, said: “David exemplifies the values of our institution and embodies the characteristics that we hope to instill in our students. He shows that the entrepreneurial spirit and community spirit can, and must, go hand-in-hand, and his generosity and determination to give back make him an ideal role model for aspiring business leaders. We are delighted to recognise his contribution to British business, education and society.”