Dr Sullivan received the title of doctor honoris causa on Thursday 9 July, in recognition of her substantial contributions as an astronaut and oceanographer.
NASA veteran Dr Kathy Sullivan is joining a diverse group of accomplished individuals who are receiving honorary degrees at the University of Edinburgh’s summer graduations.
(Image credit: Andrew Perry)
With a long and distinguished career as a scientist and astronaut, Dr Sullivan was one of the first six women selected to join the NASA astronaut corps. She joined three shuttle missions during her 15-year career at NASA.
Aboard Space Shuttle Challenger in 1984, she was first US woman to complete a spacewalk.
In 2020, Dr Sullivan again entered the history books – and the Guinness World Records – by becoming the first woman to reach the deepest known point in the ocean and the only person to have both orbited the world and reached its greatest depth.
Illustrious career
After leaving NASA in 1993, Dr Sullivan has held many high-profile roles in oceanography and geology.
She has served as chief scientist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and as president and CEO of the Center of Science and Industry.
During US President Barack Obama’s administration, she was elevated to the position of Undersecretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere and NOAA Administrator.
(Image credit: Enrique Alvarez)
D Sullivan received her honorary doctorate from the University’s School of GeoSciences, with a laureation from Professor Iain Woodhouse, Chair of Applied Earth Observation.
Dr Sullivan’s degree recognition follows a 2025 visit to the University of Edinburgh, where she toured the newly launched Edinburgh Space Hub.
Based at the University’s Bayes Centre, the Space Hub brings together academics and industry together to drive advancements in space technology.
I am deeply honored to receive this degree from the University of Edinburgh, an institution renowned for its long commitment to inquiry and public service.
Exactly 150 years ago, the HMS Challenger expedition, led by Sir Charles Wyville Thomson, a professor here at the University of Edinburgh, returned from its 3.5-year voyage circumnavigating the globe. This expedition transformed ocean science and defined modern oceanography. Today, it is quite fantastic that this University continues its tradition of celebrating scientific exploration by recognising Dr. Sullivan, a scientist who has ventured to both outer space in the Challenger space shuttle and to the ocean’s deepest location, the Challenger Deep, both named after HMS Challenger.
Honorary Graduates
Sixteen honorary degrees will be conferred during this year’s graduation ceremonies, running from 1 to 14 July.
This year’s honorary degree recipients also include Christopher John Brookmyre and Dr Marisa Haetzman, authors of acclaimed historic crime novels under the pseudonym Ambrose Parry.
They have been jointly awarded a degree of doctor honoris causa in recognition of their contributions to literature and historical scholarship.
Sexual and reproductive health advocate and doctor Annabel Efunriyike Sowemimo will also receive a degree of doctor honoris causa in recognition of her transformative contributions to reproductive health equity, advocacy, and education.
Other recipients include Bishop of Norwich, Graham Usher, and Brian smith, a Shetland archivist and co-editor of Scotland’s longest-running literary magazine, The New Shetlander.
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