Sir Emyr was presented with the honorary award today (16 December) during the degree ceremony for Human and Health Sciences.
Sir Emyr was born in Carmarthen and educated at Gwendraeth Grammar School. He went on to take Theoretical Physics at University College Cardiff before gaining a PhD degree in polymer physics at St Catharine's College, Cambridge.
His diplomatic career began in 1973 and until 1998 he held posts in Ottawa, Brussels and Madrid, interspersed with periods at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.
He took over as Permanent Representative to NATO in September 2001, a position he held until 2003, when he became the Permanent Representative of the UK on the United Nations Security Council in New York.
In 2007, Sir Emyr was appointed Chairman of the All Wales Convention - a body established by the Welsh Assembly Government to review Wales's constitutional arrangements and in particular to spearhead the campaign to increase the powers of the Assembly to a full legislative parliament similar to the Scottish Parliament.
Sir Emyr also served as President of Aberystwyth University and was the first Chancellor of the University. In September 2010 he was appointed Chairman of the Trustees of the Wales Millennium Centre, and in May 2014 he was elected President of the Learned Society of Wales, and re-elected for the period 2017 to 2020.
Since January 2008, he has been Chairman of Redress, a human rights organisation based in London.
On receiving his award, Sir Emyr Jones Parry said: "Diolch i’r Prifysgol am y fraint arbennig yma. I’m very grateful to Swansea University for this honour. It is a particular privilege to be a graduate of this University which I recognise brings with it a duty to support and contribute to the University.”