Honorary Graduate Profiles

An honorary degree is the highest accolade that the University can bestow on an individual - recognising the outstanding achievement and distinction in areas which are in accord with the mission of the University and which reflect our ambitions and values.

Heriot-Watt University awards four different Honorary Degrees, each an Honorary Doctorate:

  • Honorary Degree of Doctor of the University (DUniv)
  • Honorary Degree of Doctor of Letters (DLitt)
  • Honorary Degree of Doctor of Science (DSc)
  • Honorary Degree of Doctor of Engineering (DEng)

Read about some of our amazing Honorary Graduates below and learn how have they have excelled in their fields.

Mr Hakainde Hichilema, President of the Republic of Zambia

Dr Chehrzad Shakiban

Gregor Townsend

Annemiek Hoogenboom

Charles Hay

His Excellency Dr Abdullah Bin Mohammed Belhaif Al Nuaimi

Her Highness Sheikha Shamma bint Sultan bin Khalifa Al Nahyan

Professor Jerry Lloyd Bona

Dr Victor De Lima

Dr Gillian E Pickup

Dr Colin Allen

Professor Dr Tilman Esslinger

Professor Dr-Ing Rainer Helmig

Professor Lyesse Laloui

Dr Douglas Stuart

Dr Robin Watson

Dame Jayne-Anne Gadhia

Dr Neil Tocher

Emeritus Professor Oliver Penrose

James Michael Shaw

John Robertson Wright

Dame Frances Cairncross

Sir Ian Lamont Boyd

Dr Alice Thompson

Dr Maureen McKenna

Dr Robert Pieraccini

Director of Engineering for the Google Assistant in Zurich

Dr Steven Cooper

Chief Executive Officer of C. Hoare & Co. the UK's oldest and most prestigious Private Bank

Mrs Alison Watson

Founder and Chief Executive of social business Class Of Your Own

Professor Alex Balfour

Pioneering Mathematics and Computer Science Academic

Professor Anne Neville

RAEng Chair in Emerging Technologies and Professor of Tribology and Surface Engineering,University of Leeds

Sir Bob Reid

Board of Directors of Diligenta Limited, Belltree Group UK and EEA Helicopter Operations

Professor David Teece

Chairman and Principal Executive Officer at Berkeley Research Group

Dr Tony Strachan

Former Deputy Chair of Heriot-Watt University

Mrs Elizabeth Rio Watt

Former Governor and Heriot-Watt University Court Member

Mr Emad Azmy

President of Al Shafar General Contracting (ASGC)

Professor George Stewart

Reservoir Engineering Expert and Founder R G Stewart Consulting Ltd

Mr Paul Rennie

Director for Diplomacy and Networks at the Foreign & Commonwealth Office

Mr Peter Gerard Schunemann

Researcher in developing mid-infrared nonlinear optical crystals

Mr Saif Humaid Al Falasi

Chairman of Gulf Energy Maritime

Professor Onno J. Boxma

Professor of Stochastic Operations Research, Eindhoven University of Technology

Mr Patrick J. Grant

Creative Director, Norton & Sons and E.Tautz

Professor Dr Ursula Keller

Tenured Professor of Physics at ETH Zurich

Professor Maria J. Esteban

President of the International Council for Industrial and Applied Mathematics

Professor Sir John McCanny

Regius Professor (Emeritus) of Electronics and Computer Engineering at Queen’s University Belfast

Dr Shonaig Macpherson

Chair of the Robertson Trust

Dr William Lumsden

Director of Distilling, Whisky Creation and Whisky Stocks, Glenmorangie Company

Dato' Yeoh Seok Kian

Managing Director, YTL Corporation Berhad

Key information

Lynsey Cockburn