JM Coetzee receives honorary doctorate

Tuesday, 20 December 2005

Nobel Laureate and University of Adelaide staff member Professor John (JM) Coetzee will this morning receive an honorary doctorate from the University for his contribution to literature.

Professor Coetzee, who won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2003, is a Honorary Visiting Research Fellow in the University of Adelaide's Discipline of English. He will be admitted to the degree of Doctor of the University honoris causa at a graduation ceremony beginning at 10am this morning (Tuesday).

"For the past three years I have enjoyed an association with the University of Adelaide, as an honorary research fellow located in the Discipline of English, an association that I have found useful and rewarding. During that time I have been able to offer guidance to postgraduate students working on projects in creative writing," Professor Coetzee says.

"Before I gave myself over to full-time writing, I spent thirty years as an academic, in South Africa and the United States, so I know what a signal distinction it is to be awarded an honorary doctorate. I am most grateful to the University for the award."

University of Adelaide Vice-Chancellor Professor James McWha says the University is privileged to be associated with someone of Professor Coetzee's international standing.

"Professor Coetzee is regarded as one of the world's finest writers and we are proud of our association with him," he says. "I am pleased that the University can show its support and appreciation for the contribution he has made in the field of literature by awarding him an honorary doctorate."

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