Hazel Irvine MBE
To be awarded a Doctor of Law (LLD)
Wednesday 4 December 2024 – afternoon ceremony
Born in St Andrews, Hazel lived in the town until the age of four when her family moved to the West of Scotland. She returned to study at the University of St Andrews from 1982 to 1986, graduating with an Honours degree in History of Art.
And while she is best known as one of Britain’s leading and most respected broadcasters, History of Art remains an enduring passion.
A sports journalist, writer and anchor for more than 30 years, Hazel won the prestigious Royal Television Society’s Sports Presenter of the Year award in 2007 and has led presentation teams on a huge variety of events on BBC television, ITV and Channel 4.
To date, Hazel has presented and reported from 18 Winter and Summer Olympics, fronted golf coverage for 25 years and snooker for 23 years, and anchored coverage of athletics and ski racing programme, Ski Sunday for over a decade. Her many and varied credits also include four World Cup Finals, the London Marathon, Grandstand, the Boat Race, Wimbledon, Final Score and Channel 4’s pioneering women’s football programmes in the late 1980s.
In addition to being a well-regarded commentator, Hazel has guided viewers through Opening and Closing ceremonies at the Olympics and Commonwealth Games at Turin in 2006, Beijing, Vancouver, London, Sochi, Melbourne, Glasgow, Rio de Janeiro, Gold Coast 2018, Tokyo 2020 and 2021, Birmingham 2022 and Paris 2024.
She has worked extensively on news and events, New Year LIVE, the 60th anniversary of the DDay landings, VE Day celebrations and the Edinburgh Military Tattoo, anchored Millennium Night TV coverage in Scotland, and fronted BBC Scotland’s Children In Need appeal for ten years.
Hazel led the presentation of the BBC’s BAFTA-award winning athletics coverage in 2009, and was described by the Royal Television Society in 2007 as “The consummate all-rounder”. She also won the RTS Regional Sports Presenter award in 1999. Hazel has also worked as an Executive Producer for IMG Scotland Productions. She acted as an EP on John MacLaverty’s BAFTA Scotland and RTS award-winning documentary, Glasgow ’67; The Lisbon Lions.
As one of the very first female sports presenters in the country in 1987, Hazel has been at the heart of a story that has seen a transformation in the role and profile of women in broadcasting generally, and sports broadcasting in particular.
She is well aware of how lucky she has been to have had a ringside seat at so many superb sporting events over the last 37 years. Hazel is also tremendously proud to have worked with some of the best teams in sports broadcasting.
Sports journalist and broadcaster Hazel Irvine MBE