CARDINAL KEITH O’Brien, Archbishop of St Andrews and Edinburgh, was yesterday conferred with an honorary degree of Doctor of Divinity from St Andrews University.

Only the third resident Scottish cardinal since the Reformation, Archbishop O’Brien (65) was born in Ballycastle, County Antrim. He was ordained a priest in 1965 and became Archbishop of the Archdiocese of St Andrews and Edinburgh in 1985.

In his laureation address in the Younger Hall, Professor John Haldane, of the School of Philosophical and Anthropological Studies, said, “The archbishop is an example of priestly service, with his people in times of celebration and in times of trouble, encouraging children towards the future and comforting the aged as their lives pass away.

“We honour him as an individual who has worked tirelessly and effectively on behalf of his people.”

At the same ceremony, Sir Fred Goodwin, chief executive of the Royal Bank of Scotland, regarded as one of the country’s leading business men and an influential United Kingdom banker, received an honorary degree of Doctor of Laws.

Paisley-born Mr Goodwin (45), who holds a Bachelor of Law degree from Glasgow University, also holds honorary doctorates from Glasgow and Paisley universities. He was promoted to chief executive of RBS in 2000 and is also a former chief executive of the Clydesdale Bank and its sister Yorkshire Bank. He was made a Knight Bachelor earlier this month.

Professor Cheryll Tickle, Foulerton Research Professor of the Royal Society, Dundee University, regarded as the foremost female developmental bio-logist in the UK and one of the most senior women in British biology, received an honorary degree of Doctor of Science.

Professor Tickle took an entrance exhibition to Girton College, Cambridge, in 1964. After a PhD at Glasgow University, she went to Yale on a postdoctoral fellowship, then returned to Britain on a Medical Research Council fellowship to work at the Middlesex Hospital.

In his laureation address, Professor Richard Byrne, of the School of Psychology, said, “Like much of science, developmental biology has roles for theorists and practical people but Cheryll Tickle unusually combines both. She has remarkable practical skills and real intellectual vision.

“Impressively, she has found the time also to take a substantial role in university administration over the years and at present she is head of the division of cell and developmental biology at Dundee.”

Professor Hilary Putnam, professor of philosophy at Harvard University, was conferred with an honorary degree of Doctor of Letters.

Professor Putnam (77) went to the University of Pennsylvania, and got his PhD from the University of California at Los Angeles in 1951. In 1976 his work in mathematics and logic earned him an appointment to the Walter Beverly Pearson Chair in Modern Mathematics at Harvard.

Dr Peter Clark of the School of Philosophical and Anthropological Studies, said, “Although our honorary graduand is a consummate mathematician and logician, he is without doubt one of the greatest philosophers of our times.”