̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge - Honorary Degrees

Stormzy among eight nominated for honorary degrees

ps748 — Wed, 19 Mar 2025 14:56:30 +0000

Michael Omari Owuo Junior, better known as Stormzy, will receive a Doctorate in Law in recognition of his philanthropic work and impact in a number of fields, including education, music, sport and literature. He launched his Scholarship programme at the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge in 2018 funding two Black British students each year covering both their tuition fees and maintenance costs. Three years later, the programme was expanded after HSBC UK agreed to fund a further ten students per year. So far, 55 students have been supported by a Stormzy Scholarship and 2025 will see the largest group graduate so far. ̽��ֱ��‘Stormzy effect’ has been credited with being a contributor to an increase in applications to Cambridge from Black students across the UK.

An honorary Doctorate in Letters will be conferred upon the actor Sir Simon Russell Beale. Renowned for his stage, film and television roles, Sir Simon is an Honorary Fellow of Gonville and Caius College, where he studied for his undergraduate degree. He is the recipient of two BAFTA awards, three Laurence Olivier Awards and a Tony. He was knighted in 2019.

Professor Angela Davis, the political activist, philosopher and author, will also receive a Doctorate in Letters. A Distinguished Professor Emerita from the ̽��ֱ�� of California, Santa Cruz, Professor Davis is a radical feminist thinker and prominent civil rights campaigner who was an active member of the Communist Party and champion of the prison abolition movement. She is a vocal advocate for LGBTQ+ rights.

Lady Arden of Heswall, former Justice of the UK’s Supreme Court, and an Honorary Fellow of Girton College, will receive a Doctorate in Law. She was previously a Judge in the Court of Appeal and before that, at the High Court of Justice, where she was the first female judge assigned to the Chancery Division. She is a former Chair of the Law Commission and a member of the Committee on Standards in Public Life. She was made a Privy Counsellor in 2000.

A Doctorate in Law will also be conferred on former Olympic rower and current chair of UK Sport, Dame Katherine Grainger. She is one of the most decorated British female Olympians and the only British woman to have won medals at five successive Olympic Games. In November, she was elected as the next chair of the British Olympic Association, the first woman to hold the post. She is currently Chancellor of the ̽��ֱ�� of Glasgow.

̽��ֱ��Nobel Prize-winning economist, Sir Oliver Hart, is to receive a Doctorate in Science. He is currently the Lewis P and Linda L Geyser ̽��ֱ�� Professor at Harvard ̽��ֱ��. Hart’s work focuses on the theory of contracts, how parties can write better contracts, and on the social responsibility of business. He was knighted in the 2023 King’s Birthday Honours.

Professor Maria Leptin, President of the European Research Council, is to be conferred with a Doctorate in Medical Science. Formerly a Staff Scientist at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge, she is a developmental biologist and immunologist. She is best known for her work on the mechanisms that allow a developing body to take on its correct shape. She was formerly Director of the European Molecular Biology Organization in Heidelberg.

Sir John Rutter is no stranger to Cambridge, being an Honorary Fellow at Clare College and Director of Music at the College from 1975 to 1979. A composer, arranger and conductor of choral music, his work has been performed all over the world. Founder and Director of the Cambridge Singers, Sir John, who was knighted in 2024, will receive a Doctorate in Music.

All eight distinguished individuals have accepted the ̽��ֱ�� Council’s nomination to receive an honorary doctorate. Subject to final approval by the Regent House, the ̽��ֱ��’s governing body, they are now due to be admitted to their degrees at a special Congregation in the Senate-House on Wednesday 25 June, at which the ̽��ֱ��’s Vice-Chancellor, Professor Deborah Prentice, will preside and which will be attended by staff, students and alumni as well as specially invited guests.

Talented individuals from the world of science, music, drama, law, economics, sport and political activism are recognised in the list of distinguished people nominated for honorary degrees from the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge this year.

̽��ֱ��text in this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. Images, including our videos, are Copyright © ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge and licensors/contributors as identified. All rights reserved. We make our image and video content available in a number of ways – on our main website under its Terms and conditions, and on a range of channels including social media that permit your use and sharing of our content under their respective Terms.

Yes

Licence type:

Attribution-Noncommercial-ShareAlike

Cambridge confers 2023 honorary degrees

hcf38 — Wed, 21 Jun 2023 13:43:48 +0000

̽��ֱ��Chancellor, Lord Sainsbury of Turville, presided over a special congregation in the Senate House attended by over 400 staff, students, alumni and invited guests.

An honorary doctorate is the highest accolade the ̽��ֱ�� can offer and those graduating this year included the ̽��ֱ��'s former Vice-Chancellor, Professor Stephen Toope.

̽��ֱ��honorary graduands this year are:

Professor Dame Linda Colley (Doctor of Letters). A celebrated historian whose remarkable career has progressed to focus chiefly on British, imperial and global history, but who is also well-known not only as a writer, but also for broadcasting and public speaking.

Professor Chris Frith (Doctor of Science), a neuropsychologist noted for work on the relationship between the mind and brain and for using brain-imaging to study mental processes. Also renowned for his work on agency, social cognition and the minds of those suffering mental disorders.

Mrs Lida Lopes Cardozo Kindersley (Doctor of Letters). An alphabetician and partner in the Cardozo Kindersley Workshop, with an outstanding reputation for lettercutting and typography, she is devoted to the cause of fine lettering and has gained additional renown as an author and teacher.

Professor Sir Ravinder Maini (Doctor of Medical Science), a rheumatologist who has had an outstanding career in both academic research and clinical medicine. His work on autoimmune diseases has greatly improved treatments for these disabling conditions.

Professor Chi-chi Nwanoku (Doctor of Music). An acclaimed double bassist and a Professor at the Royal Academy of Music, she is an educator, broadcaster and champion of diversity in classical music. ̽��ֱ��Chineke! Foundation has made her a trailblazer and inspiration to black and ethnically diverse musicians worldwide.

Professor Dame Julia Slingo (Doctor of Science). A meteorologist and climate scientist and former chief scientist at the Meteorological Office, she has led major research programmes in tropical meteorology and pioneered next generation climate modelling.

Dr John C Taylor (Doctor of Science). A prolific inventor with more than 400 patents to his name and celebrated for innovation in component manufacturing, his switches for electric kettles revolutionised the industry and market worldwide. He is also a noted horologist and philanthropist, and invented and designed the Corpus Clock.

Professor Stephen J Toope (Doctor of Law), Vice-Chancellor and Professor of International Law Emeritus, who is renowned as a legal scholar as well as an academic leader. His work focuses on human rights, public international law and international relations.

̽��ֱ�� ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge has awarded honorary degrees to eight distinguished individuals in recognition of outstanding achievement in law, science, technical innovation and manufacturing, medicine, music, history and the visual arts.

̽��ֱ��text in this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. Images, including our videos, are Copyright © ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge and licensors/contributors as identified. All rights reserved. We make our image and video content available in a number of ways – as here, on our main website under its Terms and conditions, and on a range of channels including social media that permit your use and sharing of our content under their respective Terms.

Yes

Cambridge confers Law degree on UN Secretary-General António Guterres

plc32 — Wed, 03 Nov 2021 16:15:00 +0000

In an address to the Chancellor, Vice-Chancellor, academics, students and civic guests, given in the ̽��ֱ��’s Senate House after being admitted to his degree, the Secretary-General spoke of the urgent need for global research institutions like Cambridge to find scientific solutions, to produce solid facts, to enlighten people through education and learning; to drive change and offer discoveries that can benefit the entire world.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres said: “We are careering toward climate catastrophe, unless we act now to keep temperature rises to the 1.5-degree target of the Paris Agreement.

"Current pledges put us on course for an uninhabitable world, with temperatures at least two degrees higher than they were in pre-industrial times.

"Biodiversity is collapsing, with a million species at risk of extinction.

"And we are polluting and poisoning air, water and land.

"Cambridge ̽��ֱ�� is at the forefront of efforts to tackle these crises, through Cambridge Zero and the Cambridge Conservation Initiative.

"And the Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership is demonstrating that academia and the corporate sector can work together to drive transformative change.”

̽��ֱ��Vice-Chancellor, Professor Stephen J. Toope, OC said: "I am delighted that the ̽��ֱ�� has today honoured the Secretary-General, António Guterres with an honorary degree. In doing so, Cambridge is also recognising the work of his UN colleagues around the globe. ̽��ֱ��Secretary-General is playing a crucial role in the arduous negotiations taking place at COP26, and has been stark in his warning about the risks we are up against. But he has also given us hope. ̽��ֱ��UN’s 'Our Common Agenda' initiative is a rousing call to strengthen multilateralism.

"In emphasising the importance of long-term thinking, and in proposing a greater focus on facts and science, it aligns with our ̽��ֱ��’s approach to tackling some of the world’s most complex challenges. I am very grateful to the Secretary-General for acknowledging that, in the face of such challenges, universities “hold many of the solutions we need. Not only climate scientists and pharmacologists, but sociologists, lawyers, economists and experts in every discipline (…) researching ideas that can lead to breakthroughs for the common good.” Cambridge will do its utmost to live up to that expectation."

̽��ֱ��Director of Cambridge Zero, Professor Emily Shuckburgh, OBE said:

“ ̽��ֱ��Secretary-General has said we need institutions dedicated to learning, critical thinking and pushing the boundaries of human understanding. We are responding to that by channeling ideas and innovations from Cambridge to shape climate-resilient net-zero futures for every citizen of the world.”

̽��ֱ�� ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge traces its beginnings back to 1209 and its mission is to contribute to society through the pursuit of education, learning and research at the highest international levels of excellence. Cambridge is one of the top three global research universities addressing some of the world’s greatest challenges, from climate change and the genomics of human viruses, to food security and anti-microbial resistance. ̽��ֱ�� ̽��ֱ�� attracts some of the most able undergraduate and postgraduate students and its graduates are highly sought after for leading roles in industry, academia and government. Cambridge is ranked third in the QS World Rankings and has the maximum Employer Reputation score of 100.

According to an in-depth MIT study on entrepreneurial ecosystems, Cambridge is also one of the world’s top three university innovation hubs, supporting a high-tech local economy in the East of England with a turnover of £48 billion [2020], where the ̽��ֱ�� acts as a catalyst providing ideas for commercialisation, early stage funding, venture capital, incubation for start-up companies and a well-educated workforce to power them as they scale up. Cambridge ̽��ֱ�� Press & Assessment publishes more than 380 academic journals and thousands of books for research and higher education, as well as providing assessment for more than eight million learners in more than 170 countries every year.

Read the UN Secretary-General's remarks in full

View the ceremony in full

̽��ֱ�� ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge on Wednesday held a special Congregation of its Regent House, for its Chancellor, Lord Sainsbury of Turville, to confer the honorary degree of Doctor of Law on His Excellency António Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations.

̽��ֱ��UN Secretary-General Honorary Degree Ceremony

̽��ֱ��text in this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Images, including our videos, are Copyright © ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge and licensors/contributors as identified. All rights reserved. We make our image and video content available in a number of ways – as here, on our main website under its Terms and conditions, and on a range of channels including social media that permit your use and sharing of our content under their respective Terms.

Yes

Cambridge confers 2019 honorary degrees

plc32 — Wed, 19 Jun 2019 14:15:01 +0000

̽��ֱ��day is a ‘scarlet day’, on which doctors wear scarlet instead of their traditional black gowns, and the ̽��ֱ��’s Chancellor, ̽��ֱ��Lord Sainsbury of Turville, was present to preside over the Congregation, which was attended by more than four hundred and fifty staff, students, alumni and Civic Guests.

Those graduating on this occasion were:

̽��ֱ��Baroness Lawrence of Clarendon, a campaigner for racial justice, police reform and strengthened community relations who founded the Stephen Lawrence Charitable Trust in memory of her son murdered in a racist attack, to work with disadvantaged young people. (Doctor of Law)

Dame Rosemary Cramp, a renowned archaeologist and Anglo-Saxonist who was the first female Professor in the ̽��ֱ�� of Durham and was President of the Society of Antiquaries. (Doctor of Science)

Dr Jane Goodall (Newnham College) an ethologist and conservationist and a world expert on the behaviour of chimpanzees. ̽��ֱ��founder of the Jane Goodall Institute, a wildlife and environmental conservation organisation, she is a United Nations Messenger of Peace. (Doctor of Science)

Professor Michael Levitt (Peterhouse and Gonville and Caius College) a Nobel Laureate and pioneering biophysicist who has researched the molecular structure of biological compounds and made outstanding contributions to the study of proteins. (Doctor of Science)

Professor Sir Angus Deaton (Fitzwilliam College) a Nobel Laureate, economist and academic whose research focuses on poverty, inequality, health and wellbeing. (Doctor of Letters)

Professor Marilynne Robinson (Clare Hall) a Pulitzer Prize-winner who is a novelist and essayist noted for her depictions of rural life and faith and for her contributions to public debate. (Doctor of Letters)

Sir Mark Elder (Corpus Christi College) a renowned conductor who has been Music Director of the Hallé Orchestra for the last nineteen years and has worked with many of the world’s leading orchestras and opera houses. (Doctor of Music)

Flags were flown and the bells of Great St Mary’s, the ̽��ֱ�� Church, rang out as the Chancellor’s procession approached the Senate-House today for the annual conferment of Honorary Doctorates, the highest accolade the ̽��ֱ�� can bestow, on recipients recognised for their outstanding contributions.

Yes

̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge honorary degrees 2018

ts657 — Wed, 20 Jun 2018 15:10:48 +0000

Among today’s eight new honorary doctors was 99-year-old classicist and epigrapher Joyce Reynolds, believed to be the oldest recipient of the ̽��ֱ��’s highest honour.

Joining her in being recognised for outstanding contributions in their fields were former Cambridge Vice-Chancellor, Sir Leszek Borysiewicz, physiologist Dame Frances Ashcroft, genome editing pioneer Professor Emmanuelle Charpentier, President of the Royal Society, Dr Venkatraman Ramakrishnan, poet and literary scholar Sir Michael Edwards, historian Professor Robert Evans and historian, social scientist and author of seminal works on US race relations, Professor Ira Katznelson.

Their compelling achievements were today rewarded with the highest accolade the ̽��ֱ�� can bestow.

Born in 1918, Dr Reynolds became one of the world’s leading historians of the ancient world, exploring remote areas of Libya, Syria, Romania and Turkey – often as the only woman on an archaeological dig. She drove an all-woman party of archaeologists across North Africa in the 1950s, and is currently working on a major publication of the graffiti of Pompeii.

In her long career, Reynolds has taught students who have gone on to shape the field of classics in their turn, including Dame Mary Beard, who said: “Joyce’s work at Aphrodisias [Turkey] really changed historian’s views about how the Roman empire worked. I bet it will still be being read in 200 years time.” Reynolds became a Doctor of Letters.

Honorary degrees were conferred at a Congregation in the Senate House today (Wednesday 20 June 2018) presided over by the Chancellor, Lord Sainsbury of Turville.

A Doctorate of Law was conferred on Sir Leszek for a lifetime contribution to academic leadership, both nationally and to collegiate Cambridge as Vice-Chancellor. Sir Leszek has also had an outstanding career as a physician and clinical researcher, including undertaking Europe's first trial of a vaccine against human papillomavirus to prevent cervical cancer.

Dame Frances received a Doctorate in Medical Science for her achievements, including discoveries about the function and structure of ion channels and the role which certain channels play with insulin secretion and type 2 diabetes. She was also only the third British woman to be named European Laureate in the L’Oreal – UNESCO For Women in Science Awards (in 2011).

̽��ֱ��degree of Doctor of Science was conferred on Professor Charpentier for her contributions to medical science, including her advances in genome editing that allow researchers “to cut and paste the very language of life written in the nucleus of the cells as easily as they edit their papers,” according to the oration about her, during the ceremony.

Dr Ramakrishnan, a Nobel Prizewinner, received the degree of Doctor of Science for his contributions to medical research, including his work into ribosomal structure and function.

A Doctorate of Letters was conferred on Sir Michael, who as well as writing poetry in both languages, is a specialist both English and French poetry and drama and the first Briton to be elected a member of the Académie française.

Author of Fear Itself: ̽��ֱ��New Deal and the Origins of Our Time, Professor Katznelson also received the degree of Doctor of Letters.

̽��ֱ��same degree was conferred on Professor Evans, renowned for his work on Central and Eastern Europe and especially the Habsburg Empire,

̽��ֱ��day of the Honorary Degree Congregation is a 'scarlet day', so called because doctors wear scarlet instead of black gowns. Flags were flown to mark the occasion and the bells of the ̽��ֱ�� Church rang out as processions walked around Senate-House Yard.

̽��ֱ�� ̽��ֱ�� has been conferring honorary degrees for some 500 years. One of the earliest recorded was in 1493, when the poet John Skelton was honoured.

Ninety-nine-year-old 'oldest honorary degree recipient in Cambridge history'

Joyce's work at Aphrodisias [Turkey] really changed historians' views about how the Roman empire worked. I bet it will still be being read in 200 years' time

Professor Mary Beard

Anne Penduff

Honorary degree recipients

Yes

Honorary Degrees 2017

ag236 — Wed, 21 Jun 2017 15:00:00 +0000

Adair Turner, Baron Turner of Ecchinswell, received the degree of Doctor of Law for his services in public life. ̽��ֱ��businessman, academic and former Chairman of the Financial Services Authority was described in the Oration as “the answer to every crisis in public policy”. An alumnus and Honorary Fellow of Gonville & Caius College, Lord Turner is currently Chairman of the Board of Governors at the Institute for New Economic Thinking.

Presenting him for his Doctorate, the Orator said: “In the present climate…. when knowledge itself is too often derided let us say this: there stands before us a man of impeccable political neutrality, of intellectual rigour, of the soundest judgement, to whom, for his many services to the State, we now give particular thanks.”

Also made a Doctor of Law for his contribution to academia and public life was Professor Sir Malcolm Grant, Honorary Fellow of Clare College and former Pro-Vice-Chancellor at the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge. Sir Malcolm, who was Provost and President of ̽��ֱ�� College London, was the founding Chairman of NHS England, with responsibility for investing the budget of the NHS in England and for its operational performance –a role to which he was recently re-appointed.

Professor Jean-Marie Lehn, Professor of Supramolecular Chemistry at the Collège de France, became a Doctor of Science. In 1987, Professor Lehn won the Nobel Prize for Chemistry with Donald Cram and Charles Pederson for their innovative work on synthesising cryptands, the molecules that bind atoms together.

An Honorary Fellow of Jesus College and St John's College, Professor Eric Maskin received the degree of Doctor of Science for his contributions to game theory, contract theory, and social choice theory. Currently the Adams ̽��ֱ�� Professor at Harvard ̽��ֱ��, in 2007 he won the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics with Leonid Hurwicz and Roger Myerson for laying the foundations of mechanism design theory –the field in economics and game theory that takes an engineering approach to designing economic mechanisms or incentives. “Other economists study what happens when certain rules have been established in some business or other,” his citation reads; “he engineers the rules which will produce the desired outcomes.”

Also awarded the degree of Doctor of Science was Professor Janet Rossant, alumna and Honorary Fellow of Darwin College, whose research has helped to uncover the cellular and molecular events that control early-stage embryo development in mice, with implications for stem cell biology and understanding developmental disorders. A contributor to ethical and policy debates around stem cell research, she is a Senior Scientist at ̽��ֱ��Hospital for Sick Children, in Toronto.

“She has taken cells from the placenta,” reads Professor Rossant’s citation, “and restored to them the miraculous, protean power of transformation by which they can grow into any tissue—bone, say, or muscle, or white marrow; and so she has opened up a new source of stem cells, which can be exploited without harm to the embryo.”

Dame Stephanie Shirley, Doctor of Science, arrived in Britain through the Kindertransport at the age of five, an exile from Vienna fleeing the Nazi terror. An Honorary Fellow of Murray Edwards College, she is an information technologist, entrepreneur and philanthropist, who throughout her career has pioneered opportunities for the education and professional development of women and girls. In later years she has also developed a major philanthropic role through the Shirley Foundation, particularly supporting autism research and emerging technology. “I do it because of my personal history,” she has said. “I need to justify the fact that my life was saved. Now it is my turn to help others.”

Computer scientists and software engineer Sophie Wilson was made Doctor of Science. After studying mathematics and computer science at Selwyn College, of which she is an Honorary Fellow, she went on to make significant contributions to computer development, including one of the first Acorn microcomputers and, later, the BBC Micro. “There are now four of the chips that she designed for every human being on earth,” the citation reads. “Let us greet, therefore, a woman who helped to plant an acorn and pave a fen with silicon.”

Professor Manuel Castells, a Spanish sociologist and Honorary Fellow of St John’s College, was made a Doctor of Letters. Best known for his trilogy of books about the information society, published under the title ̽��ֱ��Information Age, he currently holds the Wallis Annenberg Chair in Communication at the ̽��ֱ�� of Southern California, Los Angeles. “Llke the astronomer who looks up at the night sky and ponders the heavens,” reads Professor Castell's citation, “all the world is made his observatory and his laboratory. And he steers clear of ‘the dubious ventures of futurology’; it is enough, he says, if what he has written relates to our experience.”

BIOGRAPHIES

Malcolm Grant

Malcolm Grant is an Honorary Fellow of Clare College and a former Professor of Land Economy and Pro-Vice-Chancellor. After reading law at the ̽��ֱ�� of Otago, a lectureship at Southampton and a professorial post at ̽��ֱ�� College London, he took up his Cambridge chair and Clare fellowship in 1991. He then returned to UCL as President and Provost 2003-13. A barrister and public servant as well as an academic, he has chaired various public bodies including the Local Government Commission for England. In 2011 he was appointed the founding chairman of NHS England, with responsibility for investing the budget of the NHS in England and for its operational performance. A specialist in property, planning and environmental law, he is a Bencher of the Middle Temple, an Honorary Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians, Honorary Life Member of the Royal Town Planning Institute, Honorary Member of ̽��ֱ��Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors and a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences. Chancellor of the ̽��ֱ�� of York and President of the Council for At-Risk Academics (CARA), Sir Malcolm was appointed Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire in 2003 and knighted in 2013.

Adair, Baron Turner of Ecchinswell

Adair Turner read history and economics at Gonville and Caius College, of which he is a former College Supervisor in Economics and now an Honorary Fellow. ̽��ֱ��2012 Rede Lecturer, as an undergraduate he was President of the Cambridge Union Society and Chairman of the Cambridge ̽��ֱ�� Conservative Association. Lord Turner began his business career with BP and then the Chase Manhattan Bank, before moving to McKinsey & Co., of which he became a director in 1994. Director General of the CBI 1995-9 and later Vice-Chairman of Merrill Lynch Europe, he served as Chairman of the Financial Services Authority 2008-13 and of the Committee on Climate Change 2008-12. A former Chair of the Economic and Social Research Council, he chairs the Institute for New Economic Thinking. Having combined a business career with academic work, he holds visiting chairs at a number of institutions, including the London School of Economics. A Trustee of the British Museum and an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Societies of London and Edinburgh, Adair Turner was created a life peer in 2005.

Jean-Marie Lehn

Jean-Marie Lehn is a former Alexander Todd Visiting Professor of Chemistry. He considered studying philosophy before reading physical, chemical and natural sciences at the ̽��ֱ�� of Strasbourg and completing a PhD in organic chemistry in 1963. At Harvard he did post-doctoral work on the total synthesis of vitamin B12 whilst also studying quantum mechanics. Returning to Strasbourg he was appointed assistant professor in 1966 and then Professor of Chemistry at the Université Louis Pasteur until his election to the Chair in Chemistry at the Collège de France, Paris, in 1979. In nearly one thousand papers, Professor Lehn has made major contributions in the areas of supramolecular chemistry, physical chemistry and photochemistry. Now an Honorary Professor at the Collège de France, he is also an Emeritus Professor and a Professor in the Institute for Advanced Study at Strasbourg. A Foreign Member of the Royal Society, Jean-Marie Lehn is a Chevalier, Ordre des Palmes Académiques, Officier, Ordre National du Mérite and Grand Officier, Ordre National de la Légion d’Honneur. In 1987, with Donald Cram and Charles Pederson, he received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry.

Eric Maskin

Eric Maskin read mathematics at Harvard ̽��ֱ��, completing his PhD there in 1976 but spending time as a visiting student at Darwin College. A former Research and now Honorary Fellow of Jesus College, he is also an Honorary Fellow of St John’s College and a former Overseas Fellow of Churchill College. After a post-doctoral year in Cambridge, he was appointed an assistant professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and was later a professor there before returning to Harvard as Louis Berkman Professor of Economics in 1985. In 2000, he moved to the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, but rejoined Harvard in 2012 as Adams ̽��ֱ�� Professor. His work has covered topics from mechanism design theory, with applications to climate change and election methods, to game theory and political economy. A member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, former President of the Econometric Society and Corresponding Fellow of the British Academy, Eric Maskin has received the Jean-Jacques Laffont Prize and Harvard’s Centennial Medal. With Leonid Hurwicz and Roger Myerson, he was awarded the 2007 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics.

Janet Rossant

Janet Rossant read zoology at Oxford, before coming to Darwin College, of which she is an Honorary Fellow, to complete a PhD in 1976. A developmental biologist, her first post was at Brock ̽��ֱ�� in Canada, later moving to Toronto and the Mount Sinai Hospital in 1985 and then the Hospital for Sick Children in 2005. She is currently a ̽��ֱ�� Professor in the Department of Molecular Genetics at the ̽��ֱ�� of Toronto and President and Scientific Director of the Gairdner Foundation, having received the Gairdner Wightman Award in 2015. Her research has helped to uncover the cellular and molecular events that control early-stage embryo development in mice, with implications for stem cell biology and understanding developmental disorders. A contributor to ethical and policy debates and former President of the International Society for Stem Cell Research, she is a Senior Scientist at ̽��ֱ��Hospital for Sick Children. Winner of many awards, Janet Rossant is a Fellow of the Royal Societies of London and Canada, a Foreign Associate of the National Academy of Sciences USA and since 2015 a Companion of the Order of Canada.

Stephanie Shirley

Stephanie ‘Steve’ Shirley is an Honorary Fellow of Murray Edwards College. An information technologist, entrepreneur and philanthropist, she arrived in Britain as a child refugee and her initial work with computers was with the Post Office Research Station and a subsidiary of ICL. In 1962 she founded her own software company, Freelance Programmers, later Xansa and subsequently acquired by Steria. This evolved a unique business model for the industry, outsourcing software development to women working from home. Originally targeting women with dependents, throughout her career she has pioneered opportunities for the education and professional development of women and girls. In later years she has also developed a major philanthropic role through the Shirley Foundation, particularly supporting autism research and emerging technology. A former President of the British Computer Society and Master of the Worshipful Company of Information Technologists, Dame Stephanie has also served as UK Ambassador for Philanthropy. A Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering and Mountbatten Medallist, she was appointed an Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire in 1980 and a Dame Commander in 2000.

Sophie Wilson

Sophie Wilson read computer science at Selwyn College, of which she is an Honorary Fellow. Senior Technical Director and Fellow at Broadcom, as an undergraduate she developed what would form Acorn System 1, a microcomputer that was Acorn’s first product. In 1981, the BBC commissioned her to design a more advanced microcomputer, the BBC Micro, which allowed schools across the UK to introduce children to writing their own software and for which she designed and wrote BBC BASIC. In 1985 she co-created the Acorn RISC Machine Processor, now an integral part of items such as smartphones and broadband routers. Used in Apple’s first personal assistant, Newton, Apple products still feature it today. A Fellow of the Royal Society, in 2016 she received (with Steve Furber) the Mullard Medal for their contribution to the design and analysis of the ARM Processor as the most successful embedded processor architecture in the world. A Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering and the British Computer Society, Sophie Wilson has Fellowship of the Computer History Museum for innovation in programming and processor architecture.

Manuel Castells

Manuel Castells is an Honorary Fellow of St John’s College and Director of Research in the Department of Sociology. He was born in Spain and studied in Paris. Professor of Sociology and Planning, ̽��ֱ�� of California at Berkeley for 24 years, he is currently ̽��ֱ�� Professor and the Wallis Annenberg Chair in Communication at the ̽��ֱ�� of Southern California, Los Angeles. He has published 30 books, including his trilogy “ ̽��ֱ��Information Age: Economy, Culture, and Society”, translated into 22 languages. He is a Fellow of the British Academy, of the Academia Europaea, of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, and of the Spanish Royal Academy of Economics. He was a founding board member of the European Research Council. He has received the Erasmus Medal, the Holberg Prize and the Balzan Prize and has been knighted by the Governments of France, Portugal, Catalonia, Finland, and Chile.

At a ceremony held today in Senate House, the ̽��ֱ�� awarded Honorary Degrees to eight distinguished individuals in recognition of their achievements in academia, philanthropy, business and public service

In the present climate... when knowledge itself is too often derided, let us say this: there stands before us a man of impeccable political neutrality, of intellectual rigour, of the soundest judgement, to whom, for his many services to the State, we now give particular thanks.

Citation for Adair, Baron Turner of Ecchinswell, Doctor of Law, honoris causa.

Nic Marchant

Honorary Degrees 2017

̽��ֱ��text in this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. For image use please see separate credits above.

Yes

Nominations for Honorary Degrees

gdt25 — Thu, 16 Feb 2017 08:02:52 +0000

̽��ֱ��nominees are:

Doctor of Law

Professor Sir Malcolm Grant, Honorary Fellow of Clare College, lawyer and university leader

̽��ֱ��Lord Turner of Ecchinswell, Honorary Fellow of Gonville and Caius College, economist, businessman and financial regulator

Doctors of Science

Professor Jean-Marie Lehn, former Alexander Todd Visiting Professor in Chemistry, Nobel Laureate, chemist

Professor Eric Maskin, Honorary Fellow of St John's College and Jesus College, former visiting student of Darwin College, Nobel Laureate, economist

Professor Janet Rossant, Darwin College, developmental biologist

Dame Stephanie Shirley, Honorary Fellow of Murray Edwards College, information technologist, businesswoman and philanthropist

Ms Sophie Wilson, Honorary Fellow of Selwyn College, computer scientist and software engineer

Doctors of Letters

Professor Manuel Castells, Honorary Fellow of St John's College, Balzan Laureate, sociologist

̽��ֱ�� ̽��ֱ�� Council has submitted to the Regent House, the ̽��ֱ��'s governing body, the names of eight renowned individuals, seeking authority for their admission to Honorary Doctorates at a Congregation in the Senate House on Wednesday 21 June 2017, at which the Chancellor, Lord Sainsbury of Turville, will preside.

̽��ֱ��text in this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. For image use please see separate credits above.

Yes

Honorary Degrees 2016

ts657 — Wed, 15 Jun 2016 14:45:32 +0000

A doctorate in law was conferred on 'Tanni' Grey-Thompson, president of the National Council for Voluntary Organisations, for her unrivaled Paralympic achievements and continuing work for UK sport. In the Oration during today's ceremony at Senate House, Baroness Grey-Thompson was referred to as "a shining example of the Paralympic aim to inspire and excite the world. It could have been she of whom Pindar said, ‘She is unrivalled in speed, with hand and heart to match.’"

Business leader and gender champion Helena Morrissey was awarded a doctorate in law. A Fitzwilliam College alumna, Morrissey is CEO of Newton Investment Management and founder and chair of the 30% Club, a cross-business initiative aimed at achieving at least a 30% representation of women on UK corporate boards.

Physician and immunologist Professor Sir Keith Peters was awarded a doctorate in medical science for his work in medical education and research. ̽��ֱ��Honorary Fellow of Christ's College and Clare Hall and Cambridge's Regius Professor of Physic Emeritus was instrumental in transforming the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge's Clinical School into a world-class centre for clinical research and teaching, as well as planning London's soon-to-be-opened Francis Crick Institute.

̽��ֱ��man credited with introducing elegance, purity and beauty to the design of personal computers as Apple's chief designer was also honoured. A doctorate in science was conferred on Sir Jonathan Ive, Chief Design Officer at Apple, in recognition of his impact on the world of computing and in making technology approachable through design.

A doctorate in letters was conferred on former director of the National Theatre Sir Nicholas Hytner. ̽��ֱ��honour was in recognition of his distinguished career in theatre, film and opera. Sir Nicholas, who produced a repertoire of 20 productions a year, including War Horse and ̽��ֱ��Curious Incident Of ̽��ֱ��Dog In ̽��ֱ��Night-Time, and introduced NT Live cinema broadcasts around the world, is also an Honorary Fellow of Trinity Hall.

Tate Director Sir Nicholas Serota, Honorary Fellow of Christ's College, was awarded a doctorate in letters in recognition of his achievements in the fields of art, architecture and sport. In addition to overseeing the opening of Tate St Ives in 1993 and Tate Modern in 2000 and the Millbank building’s transformation into Tate Britain the same year, Sir Nicholas was also a Board member of the Olympic Delivery Authority, responsible for building the Olympic Park for the London Olympics in 2012.

A doctorate in music was conferred on Head of Piano at the Royal Academy of Music Professor Joanna MacGregor. ̽��ֱ��pianist, conductor, and composer was already an Honorary Fellow of Murray Edwards College in addition to being awarded an OBE in 2012. A regular performer at the BBC Proms, she has made more than 40 solo recordings, founded her own record label and directed festivals including the Bath International Music Festival and the Royal Opera House's Deloitte Ignite Festival.

Seven distinguished individuals were given Honorary Degrees, the highest honour that the ̽��ֱ�� can bestow, by the Chancellor at a special ceremony in the Senate House today.

She is a shining example of the Paralympic aim to inspire and excite the world. It could have been she of whom Pindar said, ‘She is unrivalled in speed, with hand and heart to match.'

Oration, Honorary Degree Congregation, 15 June 2016, on Tanni Grey-Thompson

̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge

Biographies

Tanni, Baroness Grey-Thompson

‘Tanni’ Grey-Thompson read Politics and Social Administration at Loughborough ̽��ֱ��, before going on to represent Great Britain in athletics from 1988 to 2004 and breaking 30 world records during this time. Born with spina bifida, Tanni Grey-Thompson is one of Britain’s foremost Paralympic athletes, having been awarded eleven gold medals, four silver and one bronze over 16 years and at five Paralympic Games. After retiring in 2007, she became Director of UK Athletics and a Board Member of the London Marathon (she had won the wheelchair race six times). In addition to being President of the National Council for Voluntary Organisations, she currently sits on the panel for the London Legacy Development Corporation as well as chairing the Commission on the Future of Women’s Sport for the Women’s Sports and Fitness Foundation. Tanni Grey-Thompson has been Chancellor of Northumbria ̽��ֱ�� since 2015 and is also a Deputy Lieutenant for North Yorkshire. Appointed MBE in 1993, promoted OBE in 2000 and then DBE in 2005, Tanni Grey-Thompson was created a life peer in 2010.

Helena Morrissey

Helena Morrissey read philosophy at Fitzwilliam College before pursuing a career in finance. Beginning her career with Schroders in New York, she joined Newton in 1994 as a fixed income fund manager and was appointed Chief Executive Officer in 2001. Newton manages around £50bn for pension funds, charities and through funds available to individuals. Chair of the Investment Association since June 2014 (the UK’s industry trade body, whose members manage £5trn) more recently she was appointed by the Chancellor of the Exchequer to the UK’s Financial Services Trade and Investment

Board. In 2010, Helena Morrissey founded the 30% Club, a cross-business initiative aimed at achieving at least a 30% representation of women on UK corporate boards. Voted one of the 50 Most Influential People in Finance globally by Bloomberg Markets in 2013 and 2014, she has been named one of Fortune Magazine’s World’s 50 Greatest Leaders. Helena Morrissey was appointed CBE in 2012.

Keith Peters

Keith Peters is a former Fellow and now Honorary Fellow of Christ’s College and also an Honorary Fellow of Clare Hall. He was born the son of a steelworker in Neath, South Wales and was the first in his family to go to university. A physician and immunologist, after graduating in medicine at Cardiff in 1961 and research in Birmingham and at Mill Hill, he joined the Department of Medicine at the Royal Postgraduate Medical School, Hammersmith Hospital, becoming Professor and Director of the Department in 1977. A pioneer of medical education and research, Keith Peters was Regius Professor of Physic in Cambridge 1987-2005 (now Professor Emeritus) and was instrumental in transforming the Clinical School into a world-class centre for clinical research and teaching. As

Interim Director of the National Institute for Medical Research (2006-08) he later initiated the planning of the Francis Crick Institute, soon to be opened in London. A Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and of the Royal Society, he is also a Fellow and Past President of the Academy of Medical Sciences. Keith Peters was knighted in 1993.

Jonathan Ive

Jonathan Ive read Industrial Design at Newcastle Upon Tyne Polytechnic, now Northumbria ̽��ֱ��. Shortly after graduating in 1989, he co-founded the London-based design consultancy Tangerine, but in 1992 moved to the United States and joined Apple's headquarters in Cupertino, California, where founder Steve Jobs subsequently referred to him as ‘his creative partner’.

Now Apple’s Chief Design Officer, he leads the team credited with introducing elegance, purity and beauty to the design of personal computers. Designers of the iMac, PowerBook, iBook, iPod, iPhone, iPad, AppleWatch and MacBook, his team has created products that have transformed the industry and have helped make technology approachable through design.

̽��ֱ��most feted industrial designer in his field and beyond, Jonathan Ive’s work has earned many plaudits and six of his products appear in the permanent collection of ̽��ֱ��Museum of Modern Art in New York. ̽��ֱ��Design Museum in London named him Designer of the Year in 2003, he received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art in 2012, and a year later the BBC’s Blue Peter accorded him a Gold Badge. Winner of the Inaugural Medal for Design Achievement in 1999 and then in 2004 the Benjamin Franklin Medal of the Royal Society of Arts, he is a Royal Designer for Industry and an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering. Jonathan Ive was appointed CBE in 2006 and promoted KBE in 2012.

Nicholas Hytner

Nicholas Hytner read English at Trinity Hall, of which he is now an Honorary Fellow. Director of the National Theatre 2003-15, he directed plays by Alan Bennett ( ̽��ֱ��Madness of George III, ̽��ֱ��History Boys, ̽��ֱ��Habit of Art); Shakespeare (Henry V, Much Ado About Nothing, Hamlet, Timon of Athens, Othello); plays from the classical repertoire ( ̽��ֱ��Alchemist, Phèdre, London Assurance); and a wide range of new plays. He produced a repertoire of 20 productions a year, including War Horse and ̽��ֱ��Curious Incident Of ̽��ֱ��Dog In ̽��ֱ��Night-Time, and introduced NT Live cinema broadcasts around the world. Nicholas Hytner has worked widely in opera - in London, Paris, Munich and New York; and in film ( ̽��ֱ��Lady In ̽��ֱ��Van and ̽��ֱ��Madness of King George). Theatrical accolades include three Olivier, five Evening Standard and three Tony awards. His recently formed London Theatre Company will open a new theatre at Tower Bridge in 2017. Nicholas Hytner was knighted in 2010.

Nicholas Serota

Nicholas Serota read Economics then History of Art at Christ’s College, of which he is now an Honorary Fellow, and later completed an MA at the Courtauld Institute of Art. Most of his practice as a curator has been in twentieth-century and contemporary art, including the recent Gerhard Richter and Matisse Cut Outs exhibitions at Tate Modern, and the Howard Hodgkin show at Tate Britain. Director of the Tate since 1988, Nicholas Serota has overseen the opening of Tate St Ives (1993) and Tate Modern (2000) and the Millbank building’s transformation into Tate Britain (2000). He has been a member of the Visual Arts Advisory Committee of the British Council and a Commissioner for Architecture and the Built Environment and he was also a Board member of the Olympic Delivery Authority, responsible for building the Olympic Park for the London Olympics in 2012. Nicholas Serota was appointed an Officier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in 2003 and received the Legion d’Honneur in 2012. Knighted in 1999, he was made a Companion of Honour in 2013.

Joanna MacGregor

Joanna MacGregor read music at New Hall, now Murray Edwards College, of which she is an Honorary Fellow. A concert pianist, conductor, and composer who has performed in more than 70 countries, Joanna MacGregor is Professor of the ̽��ֱ�� of London and Head of Piano at the Royal Academy of Music and Artistic Director of the Dartington International Summer School & Festival. As a soloist she has appeared with the London and Sydney Symphony Orchestras, the Chicago, Melbourne and Oslo Philharmonic, the Berlin Symphonic and the Salzburg Camerata. A regular performer at the BBC Proms, she has made more than 40 solo recordings, founding her own record label in 1998. Professor MacGregor was Artistic Director of the Bath International Music Festival 2006-12 and curated the multi-arts Deloitte Ignite Festival at the Royal Opera House in 2010, as well as Aventures, an orchestral series for Luxembourg Philharmonie in 2012-13. A Fellow of the Royal Academy of Music and of Trinity College of Music, she is a Visiting Musician at Oriel College, Oxford. Joanna Macgregor was appointed OBE in 2012.

̽��ֱ��text in this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. For image use please see separate credits above.

Yes

Licence type:

Attribution