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Modern practices in the award
of Honorary Doctorates
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Honorary degrees are usually awarded at regular graduation ceremonies,
at which the recipients are often invited to make a speech of acceptance
before the assembled faculty and graduates – an event which often forms
the highlight of the ceremony. Generally, universities nominate several
persons each year for honorary degrees; these nominees usually go
through several committees before receiving approval. Those who are
nominated are generally not told until a formal approval and invitation

are made; often it is perceived that the system is shrouded in secrecy,
and occasionally seen as political and controversial.
www.honorarydoctorate2.com
The term honorary degree is a slight misnomer: honoris causa degrees,
being awarded by a university under the terms of its charter, may be
considered to have technically the same standing, and to grant the same
privileges and style of address as their substantive counterparts, except
where explicitly stated to the contrary. Recipients of honorary degrees
typically wear the same academic dress as recipients of substantive
degrees, although there are a few exceptions: honorary graduates at the
University of Cambridge wear the appropriate full-dress gown but not
the hood, and those at the University of St Andrews wear a black
cassock instead of the usual full-dress gown.
An ad eundem or jure officii degree is sometimes considered honorary,
although they are only conferred on an individual who has already
achieved a comparable qualification at another university or by attaining
an office requiring the appropriate level of scholarship. Under certain
circumstances, a degree may be conferred on an individual for both the
nature of the office they hold and the completion of a dissertation. The
"dissertation et jure dignitatis" is considered to be a full academic
degree.

Although higher doctorates such as DSc, DLitt, etc., are often awarded
honoris causa, in many countries (notably England and Scotland,
Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand) it is possible formally to earn such
a degree. This typically involves the submission of a portfolio of peer-
refereed research, usually undertaken over a number of years, which has
made a substantial contribution to the academic field in question. The
university will appoint a panel of examiners who will consider the case
and prepare a report recommending whether or not the degree be
awarded.
Some universities, seeking to differentiate between substantive and
honorary doctorates, have a degree (often DUniv, or Doctor of the
University) which is used for these purposes, with the other higher
doctorates reserved for formally examined academic scholarship.
The Archbishop of Canterbury has the authority to award degrees. These
"Lambeth degrees" are sometimes, erroneously, thought to be honorary;
however, the archbishops have for many centuries had the legal
authority (originally as the representatives of the Pope, later confirmed
by a 1533 Act of Henry VIII), to award degrees and regularly do so to
people who have either passed an examination or are deemed to have
satisfied the appropriate requirements.

Between the two extremes of honoring celebrities and formally assessing
a portfolio of research, some universities use honorary degrees to
recognize achievements of intellectual rigor comparable to an earned
degree. Some institutes of higher education do not confer honorary
degrees as a matter of policy.Some learned societies award honorary
fellowships in the same way as honorary degrees are awarded by
universities, for similar reasons.

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Modern practices in the award of honorary doctorates

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Modern practices in the award of honorary doctorates