Honorary degrees

Mr Fazle Hasan Abed

Chairperson and founder, BRAC (formerly Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee); Commissioner, UN Commission on Legal Empowerment of the Poor

‘A tireless defender of the needy, a citizen of Bangladesh and of the whole world.’

Mr Abed was born in Sylhet, East Pakistan and read accountancy at the universities of Dhaka and Glasgow. He worked for Shell Oil as a senior corporate executive but left the company following the outbreak of the 1971 Bangladeshi war, moving to London to help initiate the ‘Help Bangladesh’ campaign to raise awareness of the conflict. On returning to the newly independent Bangladesh, he established BRAC (formerly Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee), and his work led to tackling the long-term task of improving the living conditions of the rural poor. Today, BRAC is the largest non-governmental organisation in the world. Mr Abed has received many awards, including the Inaugural Clinton Global Citizen Award and the Gates Award for Global Health. BRAC has also been awarded the Conrad N Hilton Humanitarian Prize – the world’s largest humanitarian prize.

Dr Santiago Calatrava Valls, Dipl Architect, Dipl Engineer, Hon. Fellow, RIBA

Architect and structural engineer

‘Superlative architect, in whose works function and beauty are conjoined.’

Dr Valls holds a degree in architecture from Valencia’s Escuela Técnica Superior de Arquitectura and a PhD in civil engineering from ETH Zurich. His reputation as one of the world’s most innovative architects was established early in his career with a series of bridges and other transportation projects. His current major projects include the World Trade Center Transportation Hub in New York and Liège Station, which will be Europe’s largest railway station. Dr Valls is also a sculptor and his work has been exhibited at various institutions, including the Museum of Modern Art and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. He has won numerous awards, including the Gold Medal of the American Institution of Architects and the Gold Medal of the Institute of Structural Engineers, London.

Mr Philip Pullman, CBE, FRSL

Prize-winning author

‘A most skilful weaver of tales … for whose imagination one world has not sufficed.’

Mr Pullman read English at Exeter College, of which he is now an Honorary Fellow. After completing a postgraduate teaching qualification, he taught in middle schools and then lectured part time at Westminster College, which is now part of Oxford Brookes University. Mr Pullman has been a full-time writer since 1995 and has written 25 books of various kinds. These are intended to attract young readers, but many also reach an older audience. The trilogy His Dark Materials has been translated into 40 languages and been adapted into a successful stage play at the National Theatre, as well as a film. He has won numerous literary awards, including the Guardian Children’s Fiction Award, the British Book Award and the Whitbread Book of the Year Award.

Professor Erwin Hahn, BSc, PhD, DSc, FRS

Physicist, Professor Emeritus, University of California, Berkeley

‘Wise investigator of the nature of things, whose fame the world re-echoes.’

Professor Hahn read chemistry at Juniata College and studied for a doctorate in physics at the University of Illinois, where he began his academic career as a postdoctoral researcher. He undertook research at Stanford University and at the IBM Watson Scientific Computing Laboratory, before becoming Professor of Physics at the University of California, Berkeley in 1955. He has spent three significant periods at Oxford, including time as a Guggenheim Fellow (1961–2) and as George Eastman Visiting Professor at Balliol College (1988–9). He is an Honorary Fellow of Brasenose College. Professor Hahn is best known for his discovery of the spin echo and his achievements have been recognised through numerous prizes, including the Wolf Foundation Prize in Physics. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences (USA), a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and a Foreign Fellow of the Royal Society.

Professor Barry Marshall, AC, MB BS, FRS, FRACP

Professor of Clinical Microbiology, University of Western Australia

‘An exceptional physician in whom sense and courage have been uniquely combined.’

Professor Marshall studied medicine at the University of Western Australia, specialising in gastroenterology. He has held academic posts at the University of Virginia and the University of Western Australia, where he has been Clinical Professor of Medicine since 1997, and is also Co-Director of the Marshall Centre for Infectious Diseases Research and Training. He has held appointments at a number of hospitals, including the Royal Perth Hospital, where he began his collaboration with Dr Robin Warren on the study of a spiral-shaped bacterium frequently found in tissue samples of gastritis and peptic ulcer. He was the first to culture the bacteria now known as Helicobacter pylori. With Dr Warren, he identified new ways of treating and curing gastritis and peptic ulceration with antibiotics, and H.pylori has since been recognised as a major risk factor for stomach cancer. In 2005 he and Dr Warren were awarded the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine. 

Dame Mitsuko Uchida, DBE

Classical pianist

‘Enchanting mistress of the keyboard, whose fingers reveal both the beauty and the profundity of musical compositions.’

Dame Mitsuko was born in Japan and was educated at the Hochschule für Musik in Vienna, giving her first piano recital at the age of 14. She is currently artist-in-residence at the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, the Konzerthaus Vienna and at the Salzburg Mozartwoche. She is renowned for her interpretations both in the concert hall and on CD, and she performs regularly with orchestras worldwide. She has a long-standing commitment to supporting the development of young musicians and is a founder member of the Borletti-Buitoni Trust, which helps young artists to develop their international careers. Dame Mitsuko is also Artistic Director, with Richard Goode, of the Marlboro Music Festival, which gives young musicians the opportunity to work with master artists. In the 2009 Queen’s Birthday honours, she was made a DBE in recognition of her services to classical music.

The following honorary degrees were conferred on 9 May 2009, the Vice-Chancellor, Dr John Hood, presiding:

Mr Roger Boning

Formerly Group Finance Director, Oxford University Press

‘An honourable and admirable businessman, a great friend and bulwark of the University.’

Mr Boning read Greats at Pembroke College and has been a professional fellow of the college since 1966. He joined OUP in 1979 and was Managing Director in the International Division from 1985 to 1995. In 1996 he was appointed Group Finance Director and played a central role in turning the Press into an organisation capable of generating the funds that underpinned the transfers totalling £300 million that have been made to the University. His commitment to the Press’s traditions has been whole-hearted; he has been a great servant to both the Press and the University.

Mr Antony Willis

Research technician in the Department of Biochemistry, latterly in the MRC Immunochemistry Unit.

‘An expert collaborator, a devoted scientific investigator.’

Mr Willis joined the University’s Department of Biochemistry more than 40 years ago and became expert in the sequencing of proteins; at a later date he brought the developing science of mass-spectrometry into his laboratory. He has collaborated in the authorship of more than 130 papers and supported the research of other scientists worldwide. After an absence contracted to the Medical Research Council, Mr Willis returned to the University to continue his service in protein characterisation and sequencing. 

The following honorary degree was conferred on 23 May 2009, the Vice-Chancellor, Dr John Hood, presiding:

Ms Susan Reece

Formerly Managing Director, International Division, Oxford University Press

‘A masterly publisher, a great friend and support to this University.’

Ms Reece studied English and History at Trent University and Education at the University of Toronto and joined OUP in 1979. She rose through a variety of sales and marketing positions to become President of OUP Canada in 1993 and Managing Director of the Press’s International Division in 1999. She oversaw the establishment of the Press’s first company in mainland China and the growth of the Press’s presence in India. Under her leadership, the Press has made a shift in its operations to become a local publisher in international markets.

The following honorary degrees were conferred on 18 July 2009, the Vice-Chancellor, Dr John Hood, presiding:

Darcey Andrea Bussell, CBE

Formerly Principal Ballerina with the Royal Ballet

‘Mistress of lovely movement, who have wordlessly touched the hearts of those who have watched you.’

Darcey Bussell joined the Royal Ballet’s Upper School in 1985, aged 16, and in 1988 the late Kenneth MacMillan gave her the leading role in his ballet The Prince of the Pagodas, causing her to move to the Royal Ballet. On the opening night in 1989 she was promoted to Principal, becoming at that time the youngest ever ballerina to be given this honour. Her many roles include Masha in Winter Dreams and Princess Rose in The Prince of the Pagodas, both choreographed by MacMillan. In 2006 she retired as Principal Dancer, although she stayed with the company as ‘guest principal artist’. She retired from ballet in 2007 with a final performance of MacMillan’s Song of the Earth at the Royal Opera House.

Professor Natalie Zemon Davis, PhD, FBA, FRHS, FAAAS

Professor Emerita, Princeton University

‘Learned and perspicacious historian, who have described the lives of ordinary people with a pen as keen as it is elegant.’

Professor Davis was educated at Smith College, Radcliffe College and the University of Michigan, from where she received her PhD in 1959. She has taught at many universities including the University of Toronto and the University of California. From 1978 to 1996 she taught at Princeton University, where she was Henry Charles Lea Professor of History and Director of the Shelby Cullom Davis Center for Historical Studies. She was George Eastman Visiting Professor at Balliol College in 1994–5. In addition to courses in the history of early modern France, she has taught or co-taught courses in history and anthropology, early modern Jewish social history and history and film. She acted as an adviser on the set of the film The Return of Martin Guerre (1982) and followed this a year later with her own account of the story.