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News Release from: Coventry University
Edited by the Engineeringtalk Editorial
Team on 21 November 2003
University to honour Land Rover boss
The Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Jaguar and Land Rover is to receive an honorary degree of Doctor of Technology for his outstanding services to the automotive industry.
Prof Robert Dover, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Jaguar and Land Rover, will be conferred with an honorary degree of Doctor of Technology by Coventry University for his outstanding services to the automotive industry The award will be conferred on Friday 21st November at 2.30pm
This article was originally published on Engineeringtalk on 28 Sep 2004 at 8.00am (UK)
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Prof Dover has had a long and most successful career in the automotive industry.
He plays a major role in the region's economic development and has helped develop some of the most prestigious vehicles in the world including the Aston Martin DB7 Vantage and the Jaguar XK8.
Dover's interest in engineering started with a five-year apprenticeship with RAE Farnborough, gaining a Manchester University mechanical engineering degree with first class honours.
He then moved into the British motor industry.
As Land Rover's Director of Manufacturing he was responsible for bringing together more than a dozen separate factories scattered across the West Midlands to a central focus in Solihull.
He changed the face of off-road vehicles with the introduction of the Defender, and later the Discovery - a revolution in four-wheel-drive vehicles.
Dover then moved on to transform the fortunes of Aston Martin Lagonda, increasing outputs by nearly five-fold, launching the stunning DB7 Vantage and creating the Vanquish.
And later at Jaguar, seeing through the huge XK8 project - the successor to the E-Type, which changed the quality standards of sports cars the world over.
When Ford bought Land Rover Dover was brought in to lead its 13,000 staff, to overhaul its operations and to recover its fortunes.
Dover turned the company around in just three years to become a profitable company.
Dover has a passionate belief in the empowerment of people and sees the value of investing hugely in their training and development.
He has been an outstanding supporter of postgraduate and management development courses offered by Coventry University and these programmes are now offered across the whole of Ford's Premier Automotive Group and its supply chain.
Commenting on the award Prof Dover said: "This award has come as a most pleasant and welcome surprise".
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