Honorary Awards
The University awards a number of Honorary Degrees and Fellowships each year. The following tabs will direct you to how to make a nomination and to previous honorary graduates and fellows.
Honorary Degrees 2024
The following Honorary Degrees will be awarded by the University in 2024:
Commemoration Day – Wednesday 12 June 2024
Doctor of Laws (LLD)
- Professor Sir William BLAIR, Barrister and Former Judge
Doctor of Letters (DLitt)
- The Baroness COUSSINS, The House of Lords
- Darren MCGARVEY, Author and Political Commentator
Doctor of Science (DSc)
- Professor Ernest ARYEETEY, Secretary-General African Research Universities Alliance
- Professor Katherine BELOV, Professor of Comparative Genomics and Pro Vice-Chancellor, University of Sydney
- Professor Anne FERGUSON-SMITH, Arthur Balfour Professor of Genetics and Pro Vice-Chancellor for Research and International Partnerships, University of Cambridge
Doctor of the University (DUniv)
- Dr Veronica CROSBIE, Chair of Places of Sanctuary, Ireland
- Ridwan KAMIL, Architect
- Brian MCBRIDE, Businessperson
Summer 2024 Graduations
Doctor of Laws (LLD)
- Professor John CAIRNS, Scottish Legal Historian, University of Edinburgh
Doctor of Letters (DLitt)
- Professor Graham CAIE, Professor of English and Former Clerk of Senate and Vice-Principal
- Janice GALLOWAY, Author
- Professor Sally TOMLINSON, Professor of Education
Doctor of Music (DMus)
- Errollyn WALLEN, Composer
Doctor of Science (DSc)
- Professor Chak Sing LAU, Dean of the Faculty of Medicine, University of Hong Kong
- Professor Takaaki KAJITA, Co-Recipient of the Nobel Prize for Physics
- Professor Halina RUBINSZTEIN-DUNLOP, Professor of Physics, University of Queensland
Doctor of the University (DUniv)
- Polly JONES, Head of Scotland, The Trussell Trust
- Murdoch MACLENNAN, Businessperson
Crichton Campus, Dumfries, 4 July 2024
Doctor of Letter (DLitt)
- Razan AL-MUBARAK, President of the International Union for Conservation of Nature
Adam Smith Distinguished Speaker Series, 15 May 2024
Doctor of Letters (DLitt)
- Daron ACEMOGLU, Economist
Nominations for Honorary Degrees
Nominations for consideration for the award of Honorary Degrees in June 2025 and thereafter
The next call for nominations for the award of honorary degrees will take place in August 2024.
Completed nomination forms (which can be supplemented by additional information) should be returned to Craig Thomson-Gold at Craig.Thomson-Gold@glasgow.ac.uk
Honorary Graduates
The first recorded honorary degrees conferred by the University were on distinguished theologians in 1709.
The University has a long and illustrious list of Honorary Graduates from a range of diverse backgrounds and disciplines, who have distinguished themselves in their field. Our Honorary Graduates include:
Medical Explorer and Missionary David Livingstone (1854)
Physicist and Nobel Laureate Albert Einstein (1933)
Broadcaster and Naturalist Sir David Attenborough (1980)
Author and Philosopher Dame Iris Murdoch (1990)
Poet and Playwright Liz Lochhead (1992)
Astrophysicist Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell (1997)
His Majesty King Charles III (2001)
Lists of Honorary Graduates from 2005 can be found in PDF below:
Honorary Fellowships
The award of an Honorary Fellowship of the University is intended to honour a person who has rendered appreciable service to the University, probably over a number of years, but not excluding a person whose contribution has been particularly significant although over a shorter period of time.
A person upon whom an Honorary Fellowship has been conferred shall be designated an Honorary Fellow of the University, but the conferment of the Honorary Fellowship shall not confer any other right, privilege or status.
Nominations for Honorary Fellowships
A nomination for the award of an Honorary Fellowship of the University of Glasgow may be made at any time by completing a nomination form and sending it to the Ceremonial Events Team, together with any supporting information, for the attention of the Honorary Degrees Committee.
Honorary Fellowship nomination form [Word]
Conditions of Eligibility
The award of an Honorary Fellowship shall not be conferred upon a person holding office in the University, save exceptionally in recognition of long service or outstanding contribution. No application from or on behalf of any person desirous of receiving an Honorary Fellowship of the University shall be entertained.
Nominations Procedure
In August, Heads of Colleges shall be invited to submit nominations for the award of the Honorary Fellowship of the University.
The Heads of Colleges and several senior colleagues shall receive and scrutinise all nominations for Honorary Fellowships received from members of staff in that College.
The nominations shall then be forwarded to the Honorary Degrees Committee and, if approved, shall be forwarded to the Senate for consideration and thereafter transmitted to the University Court.
Arrangements for the Award
The award of the Fellowships might be made at a significant University event or occasion at which the Principal and other senior University Officers are present. Arrangements for the conferring of awards are made by the Ceremonial Events Team in conjunction with the appropriate College.
Additional Information
Honorary Degrees and Fellowships are overseen by the Ceremonial Events team in Registry. Enquiries can be directed to Craig Thomson-Gold.