As a composer and lyricist, Gullan Bornemark (b. 1927) renewed children's singing in Sweden from the early 1960s onwards. Her songs and lyrics have had a great impact on record, radio and TV and in many cases have become instant classics. Her compositions combine solid craftsmanship, musical quality and pedagogical thought with linguistic subtlety and humour. Giving children a rich language, also musical, has been a guiding principle. She has created a musical treasure that has lived on through all the changes in society over the past 60 years. Gullan Bornemark holds a music teacher's degree from the Stockholm Academy of Music and in 1977 she also graduated as a church musician from Malmö Academy of Music. 

Terry O'Connor (UK) has a successful international career with the group Forced Entertainment and the Faculty of Arts considers her one of the most important innovators in theatre in the last thirty years. Alongside her artistic practice, she also has a long-standing relationship with academia and has taught at a number of universities including Roehampton University, the University of Sheffield and the University of Birmingham.

Since his debut in 1978, Heimo Zobernig has been one of the most interesting and influential artists in Europe and the world. Through his actions and proposals, he has provoked and inspired generations of young artists, partly as a professor at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna since 1999, but above all through his hundreds of exhibitions worldwide since the early 1980s, the vast majority of which are solo exhibitions.

Professor Gary McPherson from the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music is one of the world's leading researchers in the field of music education. He was a visiting professor at the Malmö Academy of Music in 2002-2003 and was awarded an honorary doctorate in 2020.

Director Milo Rau was awarded an honorary doctorate from the Faculty of Fine and Performing Arts in 2019 for his exploration of new methods of social analysis, documentary storytelling and actor's performance. Milo Rau received his doctorate in Lund Cathedral on 24 May 2019.

Mary Kelly, artist, feminist and educator, was awarded an honorary doctorate in 2017. Mary Kelly is renowned as an educator at St Martin's College of Art in the 1980s, at the Whitney Programme 1989-1996, and since 1996 in a specially created chair for her in conceptual art at UCLA. Mary Kelly was very important as an inspiration for the Malmö Art Academy, and has taught and lectured there on several occasions.

In 2016, the Faculty of Fine Arts awarded the Swedish soprano Nina Stemme an honorary doctorate in recognition of her great contribution to Swedish and international musical life. Nina Stemme is an elected member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Music and appointed court singer. Her international career has included performances on the most prestigious international opera stages.

Sir George Martin (1926-2016), best known as the producer of the pop group The Beatles, was awarded an honorary doctorate in 2010. With achievements ranging from classical music and humour to pop and film music, he has guided, driven and inspired several generations in the music industry.