Laureation Address: Hazel Irvine MBE
Honorary Degree of Doctor of Laws
Laureation by Derek Watson MBE, Quaestor and Factor
Wednesday 4 December 2024
Vice-Chancellor, it is my privilege to present, for the degree of Doctor of Laws, honoris causa, Hazel Irvine MBE.
When I think about sports presenters in Britain before Hazel Irvine I think of dodgy sports jackets, big hair, and moustaches. But Hazel Irvine changed all of that as one of the first female sports presenters in the UK she went on to become one of our most prominent and respected television broadcasters and journalists.
As a leading presenter covering a raft of sporting events, Hazel has enjoyed a long and successful career. Key roles presenting at non-sporting events also won her the affection of the nation.
Born at Craigtoun Hospital in St Andrews, now part of the Duke’s Golf Course, Hazel is genuinely a St Andrean. She moved away from the town, with her family, to Helensburgh when she was four years’ old. As a child Hazel attended Hermitage Academy in Helensburgh, before returning to St Andrews in 1982 as an undergraduate.
During her time at the University, Hazel had a keen involvement in sport, particularly golf, netball, and athletics, winning her colours in both netball and athletics. She also had a passion for art, graduating with a Master of Arts in the History of Art in 1986. She has fond memories of the tutelage of Dr Christina Lodder, Professor Martin Kemp, and Dr Tom Normand amongst others.
Her time at St Andrews helped her develop the skills that we still instil in all our students and that we continue to be very proud of – that is the ability to take a subject and research it, then review what you have discovered in order to understand and challenge, and then finally to communicate. These core skills have served Hazel well in her journalistic career.
In 1987 Hazel made her sports presenting debut on Scotsport covering football matches across Scotland, following in the footsteps of fellow broadcaster Sally McNair, also a pioneering graduate of the University of St Andrews. A few months later in 1988, Hazel was covering the Seoul Olympics and since then she has presented sporting events such as football, snooker, tennis, golf, skiing, athletics, rowing, and the Olympics. In fact, she has presented on 18, yes 18, winter and summer Olympics since Seoul, most recently providing coverage at the Games in Paris earlier this year.
The level of respect that she is held in as a presenter, has also led to extensive work on events outside of the sporting calendar. These have included coverage of the 60th anniversary of the D-day landings, the VE celebrations, the millennium celebrations in Scotland and BBC’s Children in Need telethon.
Beyond life as a presenter, Hazel also works in television production and supports many charities including the brilliant work of Enable Scotland. She and her husband are very busy and happy parents to their daughter, and Hazel even finds time to support her old local team, Dumbarton Football Club. If she has any spare time Hazel enjoys golf, long walks, and I believe, an occasional Tunnocks Caramel Log!
To mark her twenty years as a sports presenter and journalist Hazel received an MBE in the New Year Honours list for 2024, and last month Hazel received a BAFTA Scotland Award for Outstanding Contribution to Television, one of BAFTA Scotland’s highest honours.
Vice-Chancellor, in recognition of her major contributions as a sports presenter and journalist, as a key anchor in major national celebrations and her work for charitable causes, I invite you to confer the degree of Doctor of Laws, honoris causa, on Hazel Irvine MBE.