OLYMPIC champion and celebrity Tanni Grey-Thompson OBE will be among the recipients of honorary degrees at a university ceremony.

Ms Grey-Thompson, who achieved fame by winning four gold medals in the 2000 Sydney Paralympics, will be recognised with a Master of Science degree from the University of Teesside.

The Redcar athlete will be presented with the degree by the university's chancellor, the Right Honourable Lord Brittan of Spennithorne QC, on Friday, November 30, at Middlesbrough Town Hall.

Fellow honorary graduates will be Vin Garbutt, the South Bank-born folk musician, who will receive a Master of Arts degree, Professor Harry Smith, who was born in Middlesbrough and is one of the leading botanists of his generation, former deputy chief executive of the Tees Valley Training and Enterprise Council and director of lifelong learning, Roy Brown, Dame Dierdre Hine, chair of the Commission of Health Improvement, and Professor Joe Herbst, an emeritus professor at Teesside and long-term advisor on educational policy.