Honorary degrees
Doctor of Fine Arts (honoris causa)
Honouring visionaries who shape Art, Culture, and Society
NSCAD University awards the honorary Doctor of Fine Arts (honoris causa) to individuals whose extraordinary, long-termterm contributions to art, craft, media, and design have transformed the world. Reflecting the University’s experimental spirit, this distinction recognizes innovators, trailblazers, and leaders who embody creativity at its most influential.
Recipients demonstrate:
- Inspirational leadership that nurtures communities and drives meaningful societal impact.
- Outstanding contributions or pioneering leadership within artistic, cultural, scholarly, or non-academicacademic fields; and/or
- Exceptional achievement or service to NSCAD University, with special consideration for individuals whose work deserves broader recognition.
The Doctor of Fine Arts is the University’s highest honour, celebrating those whose vision expands the possibilities of art, media, craft, and design—locally, nationally, and globally.
Life Fellows
Celebrating a lifetime of dedication to NSCAD University
The title of Life Fellow is awarded to individuals whose commitment and service have made a profound and lasting impact on NSCAD University. This honour recognizes former faculty, staff, alumni, and trusted community members whose contributions have strengthened the University’s growth, culture, and creative legacy.
Life Fellows are celebrated for their:
- Longterm dedication to advancing NSCAD’s mission.
- Meaningful influence on the University’s development, community, and academic life.
- Enduring support and stewardship, often extending well beyond formal roles.
Designed to honour those whose contributions deeply matter, the Life Fellow distinction symbolizes the University’s appreciation for exceptional service and lasting impact.
Note: Current faculty, staff, members of the Board of Governors, their immediate families, current students, and individuals active in partisan political life are not eligible. For more information, please see the policy.
Section from Moving Off the Land II, Joan Jonas, Ocean Space Exhibitions, Venice, 2019. Joan is our 2025 honoris causa recipient.
Nomination process
NSCAD University is always ready to recognize extraordinary, long-term contributions to the art world, and to the school’s success and reputation. If you know someone whose life achievements merit a NSCAD honorary degree or have earned them a life fellowshp, fill out the nomination form and put their name forward.
Past awards
See all the honorary degrees and life fellowships awarded by NSCAD in the past.
Doctor of FIne Arts (honoris causa)
- Joan Jonas 2025
- Laurie Anderson 2024
- Luc Courchesne 2022
- Zainub Verjee 2022
- Janet Cardiff 2021
- Paula Fairfield 2021
- Garry Neill Kennedy 2021
- George Bures Miller 2021
- Benjamin Buchloh 2020
- Jack Lemon 2020
- Mira Schor 2020
- Rebecca Belmore 2019
- Michael Donovan 2019
- Robert Storr 2019
- Margaret Fountain 2018
- Lani Maestro 2018
- Ash Prakash 2018
- Alexander Birchler 2017
- Teresa Hubbard 2017
- Adrian Piper 2017
- Todd Saunders 2016
- Karl Beveridge 2015
- Carole Condé 2015
- Robert Frank 2015
- Tanya Tagaq Gillis 2015
- Gerhard Steidl 2015
- Tanya Mars 2014
- Wilfred (Hon) Moore 2014
- Bruce MacKinnon 2013
- Martha Wilson 2013
- Jock Murray 2012
- Martha Rosler 2012
- Terry Eagleton 2011
- Iain Baxter& 2010
- Stan Bevington 2010
- Joseph Medjuck 2009
- Taylor Thomson 2009
- Donald Sobey 2008
- AA Bronson 2007
- Lucy Lippard 2007
- Betty Woodman 2006
- Kasper König 2005
- Claes Oldenburg 2005
- Coosje van Bruggen 2005
- Richard Serra 2004
- Bernadette Macdonald 2003
- Harrison McCain 2003
- Eric Fischl 2002
- Kate Carmichael 2001
- Ruth Goldbloom 2001
- Henry Bishop 2000
- Bob Geraghty 2000
- Mark Kingwell 2000
- Jean Johnson 1999
- Shirley Thomson 1999
- Barbara Newman 1998
- Alex Colville 1997
- Emmett Williams 1997
- Vera Frenkel 1996
- Ydessa Hendeles 1996
- June Leaf 1996
- June Buchanan 1995
- J.R. Jack Craig 1995
- Joyce Zemans 1995
- Mary Sparling 1994
- Ernst Roch 1988
- M. Joan Chalmers 1987
- Michael Snow 1987
- John Russell Harper 1982
- John Neville 1981
- Louis Collins 1979
- Joseph Beuys 1976
- Peter Nicholson 1972
- Andy Warhol 1972
- Lloyd A. Dennis 1971
- Donald Cameron Mackay 1971
- Elizabeth Connor 1970
- Sidney (Col) C. Oland 1970
- LeRoy Zwicker 1970
- A. Murray MacKay 1969
- William T. White 1969
- Alice Hagen 1940
- Arthur Lismer 1940
- Edna MacPherson 1940
- John Meagher 1940
- Angus MacDonald 1939
- Henry Munro 1939
- Ronald MacAdam 1938
- William Payzant 1938
- Helen Webster 1936
- Arthur Wiswell 1936
- Jean Campbell 1935
- Ella Murray 1935
- Jane Bell 1934
- Margaret Brown 1934
- Andrew Cobb 1934
- Archibald MacMechan 1934
- Emily Payzant 1934
- Henry Rosenberg 1934
- James Roy 1934
- Minnie Stead 1934
- J. Tory 1934
- James Falconer 1932
- Harry Piers 1932
- Edith Archibald 1931
- Dougald MacGillivray 1931
- Eliza Ritchie 1931
Life Fellows
- Debra Campbell 2020
- Rowland Marshall 2017
- Walter Ostrom 2017
- Dennis Young 2017
- Ernest Ossinger 1996
- Marjorie Lavers 1973
- Robert William Chambers 1966
- Harold Beament 1963
- Lawren Harris 1963
- Ruth Wallace Henderson 1960
- Thomas MacKenzie 1960
- Alexander Mowat 1960
- Ethel Pearson MacKenzie 1960
- Una Thomson 1960
- Audrey Hesson 1951
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Meeting Schedule
March 9, 2021
May 11, 2021
July 13, 2021
September 14, 2021 (AGM)