Glasgow School of Art honours two former graduates

Turner prize winner Jasleen Kaur and Japanese architect Hiroaki Kimura were each awarded honorary doctorates at the GSA <i>(Image: Supplied)</i>
Turner prize winner Jasleen Kaur and Japanese architect Hiroaki Kimura were each awarded honorary doctorates at the GSA (Image: Supplied)
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The Glasgow School of Art (GSA) has recognised two illustrious former students with honorary doctorates.

Jasleen Kaur and Hiroaki Kimura were celebrated for their "outstanding contributions" to the fields of fine art, design, and architecture.

Jasleen, a 2008 GSA graduate known for her interdisciplinary work centred on cultural memory, diasporic identity, and colonial histories, was awarded the honorary Doctor of Letters.


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Hailing from Pollokshields, Jasleen's work is informed by her Sikh upbringing and spans various media including sculpture, installation, and video.

The artist and winner of the 2024 Turner Prize expressed her gratitude for the award.

She said: "It was unexpected, but a total honour to be awarded the Honorary Doctorate this year, especially as Glasgow and The Glasgow School of Art are such significant places to me.

"They are both places that have shaped me, and I think often of how fortunate I am to have had access to free education, which was totally life-changing."

Japanese architect and researcher Hiroaki Kimura was also awarded an honorary Doctor of Letters.

Hiroaki, who began his studies of Charles Rennie Mackintosh while studying in Glasgow, has dedicated over four decades to documenting and promoting Mackintosh's work globally.

Professor Sally Stewart, head of the Mackintosh School of Architecture, said: "While practising and teaching over the last 40 years, first in Kobe and subsequently at the Kyoto Institute of Technology, Hiroaki has never ceased to be interested in the studies he began as a student here at The Glasgow School of Art, or the opportunities that those studies opened to him."

The GSA also celebrated the talents of its students, with Anna Lewis, a graduate of sculpture and environmental art, awarded the 2025 Newbery Medal for her work.

Martin Newth, head of the School of Fine Art, said: "Anna creates extraordinary objects that are beautifully and precisely crafted.

"She brings the same careful attention to detail to arranging the varied pieces in her evocative and deeply enigmatic installations.

"Anna is a wonderful artist whose work is hard to categorise and offers exactly the kind of challenge that makes it so compelling."

Other finalists for the Newbery Medal, who each received a Chair's Medal, were Iestyn Howorth from the product design programme, Emelie Christina Fraser from architecture, and Duoduo Lin from the silversmithing and jewellery department.


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Professor Penny Macbeth, director and principal of GSA, said: "Today marks a key moment for our graduates as they move forward into the next stage of their creative careers, equipped with skills they have learned during their time here at The Glasgow School of Art and applying them in new roles across the creative sector.

“This year’s honorary doctorates are exemplars of the impact and legacy that our global creative network of graduates can make, demonstrating the value of creative education and the importance that creative people can make in setting the pace, in asking challenging questions, and in offering positive solutions.

"We are proud to award the honorary degree of Doctor of Letters in recognition of the outstanding success they have each achieved in their respective fields, expanding their research and creative practices to international significance and acclaim.

"Jasleen Kaur is the seventh GSA graduate to win the prestigious Turner Prize.

"Her interdisciplinary practice explores how we define ourselves and preserve and challenge our traditions.

"Architect and teacher Hiroaki Kimura has made a significant global contribution to research and knowledge related to Mackintosh, through a long and remarkable relationship with the institution that has spanned over 40 years."

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