Legal academic and Royal Society Executive Director Julie Maxton has been awarded an honorary Doctorate in Law by the University of Canterbury at its April Graduation ceremony.

Dr Maxton began her career as a lecturer at the University of Canterbury after studying law at University College London. She moved to the University of Auckland and completed her PhD in Law, becoming a Professor of Law in 1993.

In 2000 Dr Maxton became the University of Auckland Law School's first female Dean. She was appointed Registrar of the University of Oxford in 2006, the first woman to hold the office in its 550 years. She was appointed Executive Director of the Royal Society in 2011, the first woman in the society's 350-year history to head the organisation.