Swansea University has awarded an honorary degree to the highly esteemed lawyer, academic, and former colleague and friend of the institution, Professor Iwan Davies.
Professor Davies received an honorary doctorate in law during the School of Law’s winter degree congregation at the Bay Campus on Friday 12 December 2025.
Professor Davies began his academic life at Aberystwyth University before becoming a senior lecturer in Law at Cardiff University. He then embarked on a 25-year tenure at Swansea, initially as Professor of Law, later as leader of the Law School, and ultimately as Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Internationalisation.
He recently retired as President and Vice-Chancellor of Bangor University, where he notably guided the institution into the top 30 in the UK for research impact in REF 2021.
As Pro-Vice-Chancellor at Swansea, Professor Davies led the creation of the University’s Bay Campus, which welcomed its first students in 2015. A passionate and articulate advocate for internationalisation, he also delivered Swansea’s landmark transnational partnership with Navitas, attracting £40 million in investment and establishing a world-recognised pathway for international education.
Professor Davies founded and chaired Global Wales, a strategic partnership between Welsh universities, the Welsh Government, and HEFCW. Under his leadership, Global Wales became a cornerstone of post-Brexit higher education policy, focusing on engagement with the United States, Vietnam, and Indonesia, and securing £3.5 million in government funding to support outward and inward student mobility.
He remains deeply committed to higher education worldwide. He currently chairs the Finance and Strategy Committee of the British University in Egypt and serves as a Trustee, promoting the institution as a premier gateway for British education into Africa. His outlook continues to embody academic excellence, economic vision, and moral purpose.
A native Welsh speaker, Professor Davies has been a lifelong advocate for developing Welsh-medium scholarship. At Swansea, he founded Academi Hywel Teifi – a transformative institution that champions bilingual education and strengthens the Welsh cultural dimension of university life. His leadership has left a legacy on the visibility, prestige, and vitality of Welsh scholarship across disciplines.
Professor Davies holds a Visiting Fellowship at Jesus College, Oxford, and multiple honorary professorial appointments at leading universities worldwide. A Fellow of the Learned Society of Wales, he is recognised for his contributions both to higher education strategy and to the development of commercial law scholarship of international standing.
On receiving his honorary award, Professor Davies said: “I am pleased to accept this Honorary Fellowship from Swansea University, a place that has long held a special place in my heart. My 25 years here were a time of rich professional growth and shared purpose. As Head of the Law School, I had the privilege of leading its transformation from a small, newly established undergraduate department into a thriving, full-service Law School of almost a thousand students, supported by a community of outstanding researchers. Guiding the planning, development, and successful delivery of the Bay Campus was another proud milestone – one that captured Swansea’s energy, ambition, and forward-looking spirit. This recognition means a great deal to me, and I am deeply grateful to the University and to all who shared in that remarkable journey.”