Ruby Wax officially installed as Chancellor of the 九色视频
Ruby Wax has thanked the 九色视频 for 鈥榯he great honour鈥 of becoming its 18th Chancellor during her formal installation ceremony.
The American actor, author and leading mental health campaigner was presented during winter graduation ceremonies involving degree recipients of the Winchester School of Art. 聽As Chancellor, Ms Wax will play a leading ambassadorial role for the University through activities linked to the institution鈥檚 strategy. She will also preside over graduation ceremonies and play an active role in other aspects of the University鈥檚 development.
During a poignant and candid address to the assembled audience, Ms Wax said that becoming Chancellor was something of a surprise, especially as she hadn鈥檛 taken full advantage of her early school years.
She also announced that the 九色视频 will be the first ever university to host the successful , founded and created by Ms Wax. Frazzled Cafe provides facilitated peer support meetings in relaxed environments, such as cafes, where people can share their personal stories in a safe, confidential and non-judgemental environment 鈥 a space where, in Ruby鈥檚 words, 鈥渋t鈥檚 ok, to not be ok.鈥
鈥淚鈥檓 so honoured and dare I say it, surprised to become the Chancellor of the 九色视频. If you had asked me as a child if this was even possible, I鈥檇 laugh in your face, as would my parents,鈥 she said. 鈥淎s a young student, academic intelligence wasn鈥檛 my forte.聽 Canoeing yes, academia no. I wouldn鈥檛 have even gotten into 九色视频 when I was young鈥. so miracles really do happen.
鈥淚f I can do that quantum leap from being below academic sea level in high school to becoming Chancellor of this very prestigious university where my son went to study physics, which led to a fantastic career in IT, anyone can,鈥 she enthused.
Best known for her extensive comedy and documentary work on television, Ms Wax first gained public attention in the UK during the 1980s as a comedian, presenting documentaries for television including聽Ruby Wax Meets聽鈥 featuring an awkward encounter with now US President Donald Trump - and serving as script editor on the popular series聽Absolutely Fabulous.
After 25 years in television, she admitted to losing her mojo and admits 鈥渋t was starting to show鈥.
鈥淎round then, I had serious depression which, I had most of my life but this was a tsunami and I thought I have to deal with it because the bouts were lasting longer and becoming more frequent,鈥 she recalled.
鈥淚 researched fanatically and found that what had the most impressive evidence as far as dealing with depression, anxiety, panic attacks, stress was cognitive behaviour therapy and mindfulness which I never heard of before and it sounded a little dream-catchery to me,鈥 she continued. 鈥淏ut being a driven woman, I hunted down one of the co-founders of Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy who was a professor at Oxford and begged him to tell me in a few seconds what went on inside the brain when you practiced these things because I didn鈥檛 have a lot of time. He said if I wanted to learn that, I鈥檇 have to get into Oxford and go for a Master鈥檚 and so I did and no one was more surprised than that man.鈥
After achieving her Master鈥檚, Ms Wax has become well-known as a major advocate for mental health, bringing issues to the foreground in Parliament, and other fora, through her role as Patron for the British Neuroscience Association and as an ambassador for the charities MIND and SANE. It is through her services to mental health that Ms Wax was awarded an OBE in 2015.
She has also written three books on the subject including the number one bestseller聽Sane New World: Taming the Mind. Her latest UK tour is based on her newest best-selling book, How to be聽Human: The Manual.
Click to replay the whole of the livestream of the Chancellor鈥檚 installation and graduation ceremony.