Rajinder, Baron Loomba CBE awarded with an Honorary Fellowship by the University of Northampton

​The University of Northampton is pleased to have awarded Rajinder, Baron Loomba CBE with an Honorary Fellowship at this year’s Summer Graduation Ceremonies.

Lord Loomba is a philanthropist, founder and Executive Chairman of clothing company Rinku Group, and Liberal Democrat Peer in the House of Lords. He arrived in the UK in 1962 starting from humble beginnings; selling ice cream from a van and ladies knitwear from a market stall, to building a retail empire with over 400 concessions throughout the UK, best known for the ‘Tigi’ and ‘Viz-a-Viz’ high street brands.

Inspired by his late mother, who became a widow at the early age of 37, he has dedicated his life to helping the plight of 245 million widows in the world through his charity, The Loomba Foundation, supported by Cherie Blair QC CBE as President and Sir Richard Branson as Patron-in Chief. In recognition of his outstanding contribution to this global cause, he was appointed United Nations Founding Champion of the Circle of Widows Rights (June 2013). Lord Loomba has been the recipient of many accolades, including Asian of the Year Award in 1997 and the Forbes India NRI Philanthropy Award in 2012.

Lord Loomba is focused on raising awareness and practical solutions for widows and their 500 million dependent children around the world. His collaboration with Northampton Business School’s Centre for Citizenship, Enterprise and Governance surrounds the measurement of social impact of the Loomba Foundation as a means to raise funds for this most notable cause.

On being awarded his Honorary Fellowship, Lord Loomba said: “When I found out I was going to be honoured by the University of Northampton, I felt very humbled and I’m grateful to the University for considering me.”

Professor Nick Petford, Vice Chancellor of the University of Northampton, commented: “In addition to celebrating the outstanding achievements of the graduating class of summer 2014, we are also recognising high profile individuals who have collectively impacted, directly or indirectly, many millions of people worldwide through their acting, music, charitable activities or the social enterprises they run. These recipients of honorary awards will, no doubt, motivate our graduates as they go out into the world and transform lives and inspire change amongst all those who come into contact with them.”

Watch Lord Loomba’s Honorand interview