Professor Sir Duncan Rice, Principal and Vice Chancellor of the University of Aberdeen, received a Knighthood at Buckingham Palace on Friday (December 11).
Professor Rice has been awarded the honour for services to higher education.
Professor Rice said: "On a personal level this is a wonderful honour, and I'm very proud of it. But I know it's intended to recognise all the University has achieved in the last decade. I am just the vehicle, and the real congratulations go to the whole of our community. It is being transformed by the commitment, quality and vision of all my colleagues and my knighthood is a way of honouring them."
He added: "By the standards of where we were a decade ago, we have manoeuvred ourselves into being one of the top handful of universities in Scotland. That makes this something of a minor golden age. What we really want to do now is to advance into a real golden age, where we are one of the top handful of universities in the world."