EVENING Times Scotswoman of the Year Adele Patrick has received an honourary doctorate from the University of Strathclyde.

The 2015 SWOTY winner – who is the co-founder of Glasgow Women’s Library – was over the moon with the academic accolade.

Adele, who is a board member of Museums and Galleries Scotland, said: "It was amazing – I'm still jumping on air.

"The ceremony was incredible. It was really inspiring to hear all the amazing things young people are doing, from activism to human rights.

"There were lots of young people who came from all over the world with different backgrounds. It was a real privilege to be a part of that."

Adele studied embroidered and woven textiles at the Glasgow School of Art in the mid-1980s. After graduation, she supervised the gender art and culture studies at the school for 12 years. This led her to study for a PhD at the University of Strathclyde – completed at the University of Stirling in 2004. Her thesis looked at the convergence of gender, feminism, class and ethnicity in the territory of self-fashioning.

Since winning the SWOTY title, which was on the same year as the 25th anniversary of the library, Adele has racked up a number of other awards. Earlier this year, she received an Honorary Doctorate (DLitt) by Glasgow School of Art. The library has also been awarded Recognised Collection of National Significance status.

Adele added: "It's been incredible and has taken me by surprise. All these little cluster of things help to raise the profile of the library, which is very much a collective where everyone comes together."

As reported by the Evening Times previously, Adele was born and brought up in South Yorkshire but regularly visited her Scottish relatives as a child. She then moved to the city aged 17 to study at Glasgow School of Art.

Without her vision and tenacity, Glasgow Women’s Library – it is the only one dedicated to women’s history in the whole of the UK – might never have survived beyond its humble beginnings during Glasgow’s year as City of Culture in 1990.

When Nicola Sturgeon officially opened the new premises on Landressy Street in Bridgeton, she called it a "national treasure".

After Adele received her award on Wednesday, the First Minister tweeted her delight: "An added bonus of attending @UniStrathclyde graduation ceremony today was seeing the inspirational @AdelePatrickGWL receive an honorary doctorate."