| 1999 |
Coleraine Business Person of the Year |
| 2000 |
President Emeritus, Heads of University Centres of Biomedical Science (HUCBMS) |
| 2000 |
Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts |
| 2001 |
Member of the Royal Irish Academy (MRIA) |
| 2001 |
Freedom of the Borough of Coleraine |
| 2001 |
Doctor of Science, honoris causa, National University of Ireland |
| 2002 |
Deputy Lieutenant (DL) for Londonderry |
| 2002 |
Doctor of Laws (LLD), honoris causa, The Queen’s University of Belfast |
| 2002 |
Honouree, Friends of Harvard Celtic Studies, Cambridge, Mass. |
| 2003 |
Keys to the City of Portland, Maine |
| 2003 |
Honouree, The Flax Trust, New York |
| 2006 |
Professor Emeritus, Biological and Biomedical Sciences, University of Ulster |
| 2011 |
Honorary Executive Secretary (and President Emeritus), Heads of University Centres of Biomedical Science (HUCBMS) |
| 2017 |
Vice President, Royal Irish Academy |
| 2020 |
Senior Vice President, Royal Irish Academy |
| 2021 |
Vice Lord Lieutenant for County Londonderry |