Amaethwr blaengar yn derbyn Cymrodoriaeth er Anrhydedd

Yr Athro Elan Closs Stephens gyda Tom Jones OBE

Mae amaethwr blaengar, sydd wedi chwarae rhan flaenllaw ym mywyd cyhoeddus yng Nghymru ers deugain mlynedd a mwy, wedi’i anrhydeddu’n Gymrawd er Anrhydedd ym Mhrifysgol Aberystwyth.

Mae Tom Jones, OBE, yn amaethwr blaenllaw o Ddolanog ym Mhowys a raddiodd mewn Hanes a Hanes Cymru o Aberystwyth ym 1970.

Ers hynny, bu’n cyflawni swyddi ar lefel uchel yn y sector gwirfoddol, darlledu, amaethyddiaeth a datblygu gwledig, ef oedd Cadeirydd cyntaf Bwrdd Elusennau'r Loteri Genedlaethol yng Nghymru ac ef hefyd oedd Cadeirydd sefydlol Ymddiriedolaeth Elusennol Stadiwm y Mileniwm. Ef yw Uchel Siryf Powys ar hyn o bryd.

Cyflwynwyd Tom Jones OBE fel Cymrawd er Anrhydedd gan Yr Athro Iain Donnison, Athrofa y Gwyddorau Biolegol, Amgylcheddol a Gwledig ar ddydd Iau 14 Gorffennaf 2022.

Mae’r cyflwyniad llawn ar gael isod, yn yr iaith y’i traddodwyd.

Cyflwyno Tom Jones OBE gan Yr Athro Iain Donnison

Dirpwy Ganghellor, Dirprwy Is-Ganghellor, darpar raddedigion, gyfeillion. Pleser o’r mwyaf yw cyflwyno Tom Jones yn gymrawd Prifysgol Aberystwyth.

Pro Chancellor, Pro Vice-Chancellor, prospective graduates and supporters.  It is an honour and a privilege to present Tom Jones as a Fellow of Aberystwyth University.

Tom Jones is a leading agriculturalist from Dolanog, near Llanfair Caereinion, in Powys.

He has played a prominent role in public life in Wales for more than 40 years, after graduating with a degree in History and Welsh History from Aberystwyth in 1970. 

After graduation, Tom went home to farm. However he also continued to build on the skills he learned whilst at Aberystwyth, especially his experience on the Students Union Council to represent others, and so over the decades he has held many senior level positions in the voluntary sector, broadcasting, agriculture and rural development. For example, Tom has held senior office in the Farmers Union of Wales, served as President of the Wales Young Farmers Movement, and was a Governor of the Welsh Agricultural College, before it became part of Aberystwyth University, and now a constituent of IBERS. He is also a Fellow of the Royal Agricultural Societies. 

In the early 1990s Tom was a member of the Edwards Review of National Parks. That review stressed the need for ‘quiet enjoyment’ of special landscapes and the increasing concern about the loss of tranquil rural areas. Thirty years later those concerns have only increased and feed into one of the key land use debates of our time that can be summed up as ‘land sparing’ or ‘sharing’, which equates to how do we balance the productive use of land and environmental conservation.

Tom has also ‘represented’ beyond agriculture, for example he was the first Chair of the National Lottery Charities Board in Wales and founding Chair of the Millennium Stadium Charitable Trust.  

Tom was also Commissioner for Legal Aid for England and Wales for 10 years, and a UK member of the European Economic and Social Council for 13 years where he was Rapporteur on rural development policies. He is Vice President and former Chair of Wales Council for Voluntary Action and the author of three Welsh language books.

In 2021 Tom was elected as the head of European Rural Community Alliance, an organisation committed to support the rural communities of Europe.  The group aims to use the connections between different rural communities to develop connections, share experience, mutual learning and take collective action to strengthen their position.

Tom is currently the High Sheriff for Powys being appointed earlier this year. Through this and earlier roles he has an interest in how we connect the rural and urban. Since the industrial revolution rural and urban economies and communities have diverged, but now with concerns on where our food comes from, making our economy more sustainable, reconnecting with the natural world and green spaces; restoring balance between urban and rural has become another challenge of our time.

From his student days at Aberystwyth University, Tom has been representing communities both locally and globally; and making partnerships work for the benefit of both those that live in the countryside and the city.

Dirprwy Is-Ganghellor, mae’n bleser gen i gyflwyno Tom Jones i chi yn Gymrawd.

Pro Chancellor, it is my absolute pleasure to present Tom Jones to you as a Fellow of Aberystwyth University.

Anrhydeddau Prifysgol Aberystwyth 2022

Yn rhan o'r seremonïau graddio bydd y Brifysgol hefyd yn cyflwyno deg Cymrodoriaeth er Anrhydedd i unigolion sydd â chysylltiad ag Aberystwyth neu Gymru, ac sydd wedi gwneud cyfraniad eithriadol i'w dewis feysydd.  

Mae'r Cymrodyr eleni yn cynnwys ffigurau blaenllaw o'r celfyddydau, darlledu, y gyfraith, amaethyddiaeth, a'r sectorau gwyddoniaeth a thechnoleg.

Dyma Gymrodyr er Anrhydedd 2022 (yn y drefn y’u cyflwynir):

• Yr Athro Fonesig Elan Closs Stephens DBE, Comisiynydd Etholiadol Cymru ac yn Gyfarwyddwr Anweithredol ar Fwrdd y BBC, yn ogystal â bod yr aelod dros Gymru ar y Bwrdd hwnnw
• Myrddin ap Dafydd, awdur, cyhoeddwr ac Archdderwydd Cymru
• Yr Anrhydeddus Ustus Datuk Vazeer Alam Mydin Meera, Barnwr Llys Apêl, Malaysia
• Harry Venning, cartwnydd, darlunydd ac awdur comedi arobryn
• Dr Zoe Laughlin, cyd-sylfaenydd a chyfarwyddwr ‘Institute of Making’
• Rhuanedd Richards, Cyfarwyddwr Cenedlaethol BBC Cymru
• Jonathan Whelan, ymgynghorydd TG, awdur a Chymrawd Cymdeithas Gyfrifiaduron Prydain.
• Tom Jones OBE, amaethwr a chadeirydd Ymddiriedolaeth Elusennol Stadiwm y Mileniwm ar adeg ei sefydlu
• Ei Anrhydedd y Barnwr Nicholas Cooke CF, cyn Uwch Farnwr Cylchdaith yn y Llys Troseddol Canolog, “yr Hen Feili”
• Gwerfyl Pierce Jones, cyn-Gyfarwyddwr a Phrif Weithredwr Cyngor Llyfrau Cymru

Rhannu