Former frontman of The Smiths, Morrissey revealed the news of the award on website True-to-You.net. Morrissey reacted to the news with amazement,"My initial reaction is to feel undeserving ... my contribution to music being such that no record label on the planet has either the nerve or the imagination to sign me!"
The University Philosophical Society has recorded the presence of many remarkable members including Oscar Wilde, Bram Stoker and Samuel Beckett. Other past recipients of the Gold Medal in their respective fields include Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Chancellor of Germany Angela Merkel"

The singer, whose parents both hail from Dublin, will follow in the footsteps of former Smiths bandmate Johnny Marr who received an honoury doctorate from the same society in 2007