Cate Blanchett, The Maids and Blue Jasmine star, is now Dr. Cate Blanchett after she received an honorary doctorate degree from an Australian university.

Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia, bestowed an honorary Doctor of Letters detree on Cate Blanchett, 45, on Thursday. The University in Sydney bestowed the title on the two-time Oscar winner in recognition of Blanchett's contribution to the arts, philanthropy and the community.

According to the university's official website, "Actor Cate Blanchett has received a Doctor of Letters honoris causa from Macquarie University today, recognising her extraordinary contribution to the arts, philanthropy and the community."

Vice-Chancellor Professor S. Bruce Dowton introduced Blanchett, saying "Many of the students graduating today will feel great affection for Cate Blanchett, having grown up watching her in some of the most iconic films of their childhood and adolescence, and benefitting from her many contributions to our national conversation."

In her speech at the graduation ceremony Cate said "The arts are what we stay alive for, what we work for all week, what we dream about, what connects us and indeed, what some will say makes us human... Within this broad church is housed a myriad of professions - professions which some of you will participate in, help change, shape and evolve and I'd like to say today that it is the arts that have always been the driver of innovation and exploration."

''Within this broad church is housed a myriad of professions -- professions which some of you will participate in, help change, shape and evolve and I'd like to say today that it is the arts that have always been the driver of innovation and exploration," Blanchett continued.

Blanchett was born in Melbourne, Australia. Cate and her husband, Andrew Upton, have three children, Dashiell, 12, Roman, 10, and Ignatius, six. Blanchett won two Academy Awards, three BAFTAs, and three Golden Globes.