Cate Blanchett receives honorary doctorate from Macquarie University

Actor Cate Blanchett has received a Doctor of Letters honoris causa from  Macquarie University, Sept. 25, recognising her extraordinary contribution to the arts, philanthropy and the community.
The award was presented to Blanchett in a morning graduation ceremony for the Faculty of Arts and Faculty of Human Sciences.
“It is a privilege to be addressed by one of the world’s greatest actors this graduation day,” said Vice-Chancellor, Professor S. Bruce Dowton.

“Many of the students graduating today will feel great affection for Cate Blanchett, having grown up watching her in some of the most iconic films of their childhood and adolescence, and benefitting from her many contributions to our national conversation.”
Born in Melbourne, Blanchett graduated from the National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA) in 1992. She appeared in several Sydney Theatre Company productions and Australian TV shows, before making her international film debut in 1997 with her role in Paradise Road.
In her career across stage and screen, Blanchett has received numerous film and theatre awards including two Academy Awards, three Baftas and three Golden Globe awards. She has also been awarded the Centenary Medal for Service to Australian Society through Acting, and the Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French Minister for Culture.  She served as Co-Artistic Director and CEO of the Sydney Theatre Company from 2008–2013, alongside Andrew Upton.
Blanchett’s stage roles include The Maids, Hedda Gabler, The Wars of the Roses, A Streetcar Named Desire, Uncle Vanya and Gross und Klein. In film, her work includes Blue Jasmine, Elizabeth, The Golden Age, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, The Aviator; I’m Not There, Notes on a Scandal, Robin Hood, Hanna, Veronica Guerin, The Lord of the Rings trilogy and The Hobbit.
Blanchett received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and in 2007 was named one of 100 Most Influential People by TIME Magazine.
A Patron of the Sydney Film Festival, Blanchett is also an Ambassador for the Australian Conservation Foundation and the Australian Film Institute. She holds honorary Doctor of Letters degrees from the University of NSW and the University of Sydney, and is the mother of three boys.

Macquarie University Faculty of Arts

In the Faculty of Arts at  Macquarie University, students and staff work together within and across disciplinary boundaries to ask questions about socially complex problems, identify paths of research, analyze and communicate ideas in creative formats and reflect on the skills and knowledge they will need to understand the world, past and present.
Students are encouraged to use their skills and talents to connect with local and global communities. The faculty offers undergraduate and postgraduate coursework and research degree programs and is home to a number of internationally recognized research centres.
*

Find out more about arts programs at Macquarie University and at other Australian universities. Contact OzTREKK’s Australian Arts Programs Admissions Officer Rachel Brady at rachel@oztrekk.com for more information.