Dr Cullen and Mr Scott will receive their degrees and give addresses at the graduation ceremonies next Wednesday and Saturday, December 19, respectively.
Before his election in 1981 as an MP for Dunedin's St Kilda electorate, Dr Cullen was a senior lecturer in the Otago University history department, which he had joined in 1971.
Among his publications while at Otago was a book on The Statistical Movement in Early Victorian Britain: The Foundations of Empirical Social Research (1975).
University vice-chancellor Prof Sir David Skegg said Dr Cullen's honorary degree recognised his contributions as an Otago academic and a respected and highly influential politician who had "played a pivotal role in many aspects of the nation's political and economic affairs".
During a long parliamentary career, he served in several key roles including as deputy leader of the Labour Party (1996-2008), deputy prime minister (2002-08), minister of finance (1999-2008), Leader of the House and Attorney-general.
He retired from Parliament in April and last month became deputy chairman of New Zealand Post.
Born in London, Dr Cullen moved to New Zealand as a child, later attending Christs College, in Christchurch, on a scholarship.
He graduated from the University of Canterbury with a BA in mathematics and a MA in pure and applied mathematics and history, before taking up a Commonwealth Scholarship to the University of Edinburgh, where he gained a PhD in social and economic history.
Prof Skegg said the university had "benefited greatly from Trevor Scott's business, accounting and financial acumen over his many years of service to the institution".
He was a member of the University Council (1991-2005), also making important contributions to committees and boards involving the university's finances, commercial activities and residential colleges.
He chaired the board of Otago Innovation Ltd, its predecessor, the Commercial Activity Board, and companies emerging from Otago research, such as Blis Technologies and Pacific Edge Biotechnologies Ltd, Prof Skegg said.
He had also provided a generous endowment for a professorship in urology under the university's Leading Thinkers initiative.
He had also driven efforts to promote Dunedin as a destination for international students, including through initiatives such as establishing Education Dunedin and the Otago Language Centre, both of which he chaired.
His community work has included helping to establish the Otago Multiple Sclerosis Society.
He was the inaugural president and first life member of its national body.
Since graduating with a BCom in accountancy from Otago in 1964, he has served in director and adviser roles for a wide variety of leading national companies.
He founded accountancy and consulting firm T. D. Scott and Co in 1988.
He was made a distinguished fellow of the New Zealand Institute of Directors in 2006, and made a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit in the 2008, recognising his services to business and the community.
