Dr. Indira V. Samarasekera was presented with an honorary Doctor of Science DSc at Queen's University's spring convocation on May 31, 2018. All recipients of this year's honorary degrees were selected by Queen's community members for their contributions to the local community, Canadian society, or the world.

Indira is internationally recognized as one of Canada’s leading metallurgical engineers. Her groundbreaking and globally renowned work on continuous casting of steel helped to lead the industry to make critical changes to mould design and operation for improved quality. Her recommendations have been widely adopted by the steel industry.

In 2005, Indira became the first female president of the University of Alberta. She has honorary degrees from the University of British Columbia, University of Toronto, the University of Waterloo, Queen's University Belfast, University of Montréal and the University of Western Ontario.

In 1974 she became the first woman in Sri Lanka, where she was born, to become a mechanical engineer.