SINGER Annie Lennox has officially been installed as the first female Chancellor of Glasgow Caledonian University.

The highly-respected social activist and philanthropist pledged to use her ceremonial leadership role to further the university’s mission to promote the common good, during a special ceremony in the City Centre.

TV star Martin Compston and First Minister Nicola Sturgeon were among those in attendance.

Students and staff were joined by other invited guests, including Dame Katherine Grainger - Britain’s most decorated female Olympic medallist - and singer-songwriter Midge Ure OBE.

Ms Sturgeon gave a speech at the ceremony.

Chancellor Lennox said: “I am humbled and awed beyond measure. I only wish my parents, grandparents and great grandparents could be here today to witness this special occasion, as it would have filled them with pride and disbelief, proving in some way that miracles can sometimes happen. After all, it’s with thanks to them I am here in the first place.”

Dr Lennox said she has no degree, but could be described as “an honorary graduate from the school of life.”

She added: “I come from a long line of hard working Scots, from the times when class boundaries, economic identities and gender roles were very firmly established.

“Young women from working class backgrounds gaining university degrees were as rare as kangaroos in the Antarctic.”

The university first revealed back in November that the singer would become the new Chancellor.