Sir Julian, who has been involved in a range of Otago businesses and charities, is the fifth generation of the Smith family to take the helm of the newspaper publisher. Its flagship is the Otago Daily Times.
The Otago alumnus will become an honorary doctor of laws, at a ceremony next Saturday.
Vice-chancellor Professor Harlene Hayne said Sir Julian's contribution to Dunedin and New Zealand, in business and in his charity work, was exemplary.
"Sir Julian is a highly successful businessman and his contributions to the wider community, through his participation in a wide variety of national and local organisations and charities, reflect the values that Otago aims to encourage in its alumni."
He began studying accountancy part-time in 1962 while working with accountants Brodrick and Chalmers.
While at the university he met his future wife, Beverley, Lady Smith, who was then studying physiotherapy. Their three children graduated from Otago.
Sir Julian joined the board of Allied Press in 1974, and was knighted in 2013 for services to business, and in recognition of his leadership and involvement in a range of Otago businesses.
He is involved in different charities and is chairman of the Orokonui Foundation Trust, the Olveston Charitable Foundation, and the Taieri Airport Trust, as well as being a past-president of the Otago Chamber of Commerce.
Sir Julian said he had continued to take an interest in the university over the years and congratulated the university on reaching the milestone of its sesquicentenary.
"Allied Press has had a close relationship with the university over the years, and we wish it well in the next 150," he said.
"I'm humbled by the awarding of this honorary degree, and pleased to receive it, not only on my own behalf but from the point of view of the company I represent which has reported the activities of New Zealand's first university for 150 years."
The Otago Daily Times, founded in 1861, is eight years older than the university, and is the last independently owned metropolitan newspaper in New Zealand and Australia.
Allied Press also publishes 19 South Island community newspapers, in Southland, Canterbury, the West Coast, and Otago.
Sir Julian said the campus had been "vibrant" in the 1960s, and he enjoyed his involvement in sporting and social activities.
He was secretary of the Commerce Faculty Students' Association, and contributed to capping activities, playing rugby and debating.
Sir Julian said he "couldn't claim to have been a great scholastic success", but credited his achievements as a businessman to his time at the university.
His degree will be conferred at the university's 3pm graduation ceremony at the Dunedin Town Hall on August 17.
