Shahrukh Khan To Be Honoured With Honorary Doctorate By Melbourne's La Trobe University
Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan is set to receive an honorary doctorate from Melbourne-based La Trobe University for his contributions and efforts towards underprivileged children.
News
oi-Swikriti Srivastava
By Pti
Bollywood
superstar
Shah
Rukh
Khan
is
set
to
receive
an
honorary
doctorate
from
Melbourne-based
La
Trobe
University
for
his
contributions
and
efforts
towards
underprivileged
children,
women's
empowerment
through
Meer
Foundation
and
his
achievements
in
the
Indian
entertainment
industry.
Khan,
who
will
be
visiting
Australia
to
attend
the
10th
edition
of
the
Indian
Film
Festival
of
Melbourne
(IFFM)
next
month
as
its
chief
guest,
said
having
his
humanitarian
endeavours
recognised
for
the
first
time
by
the
country
was
a
great
honour.
La
Trobe
University
is
the
first
Australian
university
to
award
Khan
with
an
Honorary
Degree,
Doctor
of
Letters
(honoris
causa).
"I'm
proud
to
be
conferred
with
a
great
university
like
La
Trobe
which
has
a
long-standing
relationship
with
Indian
culture
and
impressive
track
record
in
advocating
for
women's
equality," Khan
was
quoted
by
the
university's
statement
on
Monday.
"I
feel
truly
privileged
to
receive
this
Honorary
Doctorate
and
I
would
like
to
sincerely
thank
La
Trobe
for
choosing
to
recognise
my
achievements
in
such
a
humbling
way,"
he
added.
IFFM
director
Mitu
Bhowmick
said
the
festival
was
lucky
to
have
the
university
as
a
partner.
"The
university
shares
our
festival's
core
values
of
inclusion,
diversity
and
cultural
growth,"
Bhowmick
said,
adding
"To
be
a
part
of
this
magnificent
celebration
of
Mr
Shah
Rukh
Khan's
amazing
work,
with
La
Trobe,
is
a
matter
of
great
joy
and
pride
for
the
festival."
La
Trobe
will
present
Khan
with
his
Honorary
Doctorate
on
August
9
at
its
Melbourne
campus
in
Bundoora.
The
La
Trobe
University
Vice-Chancellor
John
Dewar,
said
the
actor's
philanthropic
leadership
closely
aligns
with
the
university's
values.
"Khan
is
a
champion
of
societal
change
whose
efforts
to
support
the
equality
of
women
in
India
reflect
La
Trobe's
values
of
inclusiveness,
equity
and
social
justice," Dewar
said.
As
the
only
Victorian
university
to
teach
Hindi
language
and
cinema
studies,
Dewar
said
it
was
a
natural
fit
for
La
Trobe
to
be
the
exclusive
Learning
Partner
for
the
IFFM.
"In
the
past
eight
years,
we
have
been
proud
to
host
India's
iconic
film
stars
including
Amitabh
Bachchan,
Vidya
Balan
and
Rajkumar
Hirani
with
the
Indian
Film
Festival
of
Melbourne
at
La
Trobe," Dewar
added.