Rocket Ron Haslam awarded Honorary Degree

Former Grand Prix star Ron Haslam has received an honorary degree from the University of Derby in recognition of his racing career, as well as the thousands he has helped with on-track instruction.

Over a 24-year period, Ron and his team taught more than 86,000 riders as part of his Ron Haslam Race School at Donington Park, before it closed at the end of 2020.

His honorary Master of the University degree (HonMUniv) was put forward by a former pupil, Nicola Drew, who is undertaking a PhD at the University of York.

“It was a pleasure to nominate Ron for an honorary degree from the University of Derby,” Nicola told MCN, having first visited the school in 2019.

“Ron is an absolute legend of the paddock and his impact on the sport and on those who attended his former race school for instruction should be recognised.”

Nicola first submitted the nomination report in November 2019, before finding out it had been accepted in June 2022. This had to be kept a secret until Ron was officially notified in February 2023.

Ron’s graduation will take place today (Wednesday, July 19) with other honorary degree holders including former West Indies cricketer, Michael Holding.

Haslam told MCN: “It makes me so proud to know that we gave that much enjoyment and pleasure to people. I can’t believe it, to be honest. I’m a normal lad and to get something like that is incredible.”