Notre Dame awards doctorate to Cormann

Former Western Australia senator Mathias Cormann has been awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Notre Dame Australia for his commitment to higher education and public service.

The university today announced it has awarded Mr Cormann an honorary doctor of laws degree at a ceremony last night, held at St Edmund’s College at the University of Cambridge.

Mr Cormann entered federal politics in 2007 and was Australia’s longest serving finance minister, holding the role from 2013 to 2020.

He retired from politics in October 2020 and became the Organisation for Economic and Co-operation and Development secretary general a year later, the first Australian to be elected in the role.

“A strong, vibrant and effective higher education system can serve as an important policy lever for addressing the long-term structural challenges facing us, first and foremost boosting economic development and growth,” Mr Cormann said at the ceremony.

“But in the short term, in the world we live in today, the drags on growth are significant.”

The university’s chancellor, Christopher Ellison, said Mr Cormann had been a longstanding supporter and friend to Notre Dame.

“Mathias Cormann has dedicated much of his life to serving the community and it is with enormous pleasure that we confer on him this honorary degree in recognition of his many years of public service and support for both higher education and the Catholic Church in Australia,” he said.

“As a measure of his character, he is highly regarded on all sides of politics for both his stewardship of our nation’s finances, as well as for his tireless advocacy for his home state of WA.

“We thank him for his friendship and wish him every success in his current role with the OECD.”