Margaret Atwood to Receive Honorary Doctorate of Letters at Winter Graduation

On 28 and 29 November, 1000 St Andrews students are expected to graduate alongside this year’s honorary degree recipients, including the internationally celebrated Canadian author Margaret Atwood who will receive a Doctorate of Letters, in recognition of her contribution to literature.

An honorary degree is awarded by universities for outstanding national or international achievement in a particular field or a substantial contribution to society, such as through philanthropic work and is earned without pursuing any education at that institution.

Atwood is most famous for her 1985 dystopian novel The Handmaid’s Tale, which has sold more than eight million copies, been translated into more than forty languages, and was recently adapted into a critically acclaimed television series which earned 15 Emmy awards. Atwood has won the prestigious Booker Prize twice. First, in 2000 for The Blind Assassin and again in 2019 for The Testaments, the sequel to The Handmaid’s Tale.

In addition to being an acclaimed novelist, Atwood has published several poetry collections and has written scripts for television, radio and theatre. Her St Andrews degree will join her collection of more than 20 other honorary degrees, including a Doctorate of Letters from the University of Edinburgh, awarded in 2014.

Other 2023 recipients include Dame Evelyn Glennie, who is becoming an Honorary Doctor of Music and has earned 2 Grammys and a BAFTA nomination throughout her music career as a percussionist and Rufus Norris, director of the National Theatre, receiving an Honorary Doctorate of Letters for his contributions to theatre. The University medal will be awarded to Gordon Moir, the former Director of Gatekeeping at St Andrews Links Trust. Additionally, several academic staff will be promoted to professors, and the Principal’s medal will also be awarded during the ceremonies.

Other well-known recipients of honorary degrees from St Andrews include former US First Lady and Secretary of State Hilary Clinton, who received an Honorary Doctor of Laws in 2013 and James Bond actor Sean Connery, who was made an honorary Doctor of Letters by the University in 1988.

Image by Frankie Fouganthin