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Last updateMon, 17 Nov 2025 1pm

Award winning property professional to get University honour

An award-winning property professional who became the first woman to hold a top construction industry role will receive a prestigious University honour next week.

Louise Brooke-Smith is set to be awarded an honorary doctorate from Birmingham City University recognising her achievements across the land, property and construction sectors.

In 2014 she was appointed Global President of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors becoming both the first ever woman, and the first person from the West Midlands, to hold the position in its 147 year history.  

Dr Brooke-Smith has nearly 30 years’ experience as a Chartered Surveyor and Town Planner and has worked across the globe, including on projects for the United Nations.

She established and is now CEO of an award-winning Birmingham based planning consultancy which recently celebrated its 21st anniversary.  

Her accolade will be presented during a ceremony at Birmingham’s Symphony Hall on Monday (January 11), alongside students graduating in subjects including Architecture, Planning and the Built Environment.

Dr Brooke-Smith said: “It is a genuine honour to have been awarded this Doctorate from a University where I had the privilege of studying, nearly 30 years ago”

“It is even more pleasing to be attending the ceremony alongside so many people who are at the start of their own journeys and preparing to go out into the world and begin their careers in the built environment.”

In addition to being a visiting lecturer at the University, she has been involved with various planning based national and international initiatives including work across Sub Sahara Africa and India.

In 2015, she also led the launch of the property industry’s first Inclusive Employer Quality Mark which promotes and increases diversity across the land, property and construction sector.