How does a university award honorary doctorate?

Question

Important scholars (e.g. Nobel laureates) regularly receive honorary doctorate from different universities. I know that the Board of Trustees (or a similar board) reviews available nominations and awards an honorary degree to a person, but I wonder how the nomination process is conducted.

It seems to be very chancy, as there are many universities and many famous scholars. Usually there were no previous relationship between the awarding university and awardee. For example, it is common for a Nobel Prize winner to receive honorary doctorate from 30 universities. He/she could have previous connections (e.g. collaboration, contribution, etc) with only a few of them.

How does a nominator suggest awarding to an eligible but irrelevant scholar?

Answer 1

Some universities allow faculty to nominate those chosen for honorary degrees. From what I understand, some even allow certain members of the graduating class and/or student council to nominate & vote. At other institutions, the senate, department heads, deans, president or chancellor may pick the candidates. Some institutions may have a nomination body and a voting body. I would think that it depends upon the size of the institution.

To find out for sure, check out websites for specific universities. Often times universities have focused areas of research or a campus wide research goal for which they have TONS of funding. On most occasions, honorary degrees are awarded to those who are conducting research in that field. They often award honorary degrees to those who are active in their communities as well.

Another common thing with honorary degrees: once an individual has been granted one other institutions will sometimes scramble to recognize that person as well. This is especially true if both institutions are located in the same area, or if they largely focus on the same research matters. People who make a difference on a global scale are often chosen as recipients of honorary degrees not only because they've made a difference, but because a university is, after all, still a business. If they give someone famous an honorary degree, you can bet it will be on the news. It will even get better coverage if other universities have also awarded the person with honorary degrees! Sometimes they look for a unique person to give an honorary degree to- because that will also get more coverage (for example, people from minority groups or from third world countries).

Each university has their own policy regarding nominations and different criterion, but they're all about creating a buzz. They may pick a First Nations community leader as a recipient in hoping that they will attract more students from that community. They also use honorary degrees as a way to network. If they want to meet their idol, they award them with an honorary degree so that person has to come and meet them to accept it (it is, after all, only polite, right?).

If you're curious about individual schools, you can look up the honorary degree recipients - they will often state why the person was given the degree. The key thing to remember is that they could come across anyone and find a reason to nominate them. They may see a firefighter on the news who saved the lives of people by rushing into a burning building. They attribute great courage to that person, so they nominate them to receive an honorary degree in emergency service operations. Their spouse, friend or neighbor may tell them an inspiring story which urges them to do more research on the person. Then that person ends up nominated! Yes, they have criterion, but it is flexible. They can word their statements for nomination in such a way that anyone would be fit for an honorable degree.

Answer 2

Often honorary degrees are awarded because an individual is seen to have done some service to the field in question, often outside the normal confines of academia.

A notable example is Jeremy Clarkson who holds an honorary doctorate in engineering form Brunel University, even though he clearly doesn't have the equivalent technical or academic knowledge. In this case it is more about his prominence as a motoring journalist and broadcaster. Note that this was a bit controversial at the time.

This is often a two way street, with an academic institution recognising a person who has some links to the institution itself or the local area and may be a way of attracting or rewarding high profile patrons.

On one hand an honorary degrees is a 'free' form of currency for a university to dish out at virtually no cost to themselves, but of course they don't want to dilute it too much or it will loose it's (already rather vague) value.

The actual decision making process will depend on the management structure of the university but would normally need to be approved at a high level ultimately by the Vice-Chancellor via the Senate, or Equivalent body and it is fairly reasonable to assume that formal nominations originate at Chair or Head of Department level vial whatever political structures exist in any given institution.

Answer 3

As other answers and comments have pointed out, the policy and process for awarding honourary degrees differs by institution, but it usually has some common threads. To flesh out the other answers here, I am going to give you an example of the process at my own alma mater, the Australian National University.  This is just one example of the process, and it may differ from other universities, but hopefully it will give you an idea of what this process may look like.

• The university has a formal policy on the award of honourary degrees, which sets out the types of degrees awarded and the eligibility requirements of those degrees. The three main eligibility requirements are that an individual to be awarded an honourary degree must: (1) be highly eminent; (2) have made an exceptional contribution to the relevant field; and (3) be recognised internationally.

• Some notable aspects of the ANU policy are that the degree cannot be awarded in absentia, meaning that the individual awarded the degree must attend the university for receipt (and presumably give a speech and do some glad-handing). The policy also imposes higher requirements to award an honourary degree to a serving politician or public servant (presumably due to the political signalling that this might entail) or a member of staff of the university.

• The university has an honourary committee composed of senior executive personnel in the university who make decisions on the award of honourary degrees. The committee meets twice per year to decide awards. This committee includes the Chancellor, Pro-Chancellor, Vice-Chancellor, Chair of the Campus Planning Committee, a Deputy Vice-Chancellor, senior faculty members, two external members, and a student representative. Most of these are the top executive leadership positions in the university, so the awarding of an honourary degree essentially requires the support of the most senior leaders of the university.

• The university maintains a public Roll of Honour listing all the recipients of its honourary degrees. The number of awards made each year varies quite substantially. You can have a look at the Roll to get a sense of the number of honourary degrees awarded and the eminence and accomplishments of the recipients.