University of Oxford


Oxford University Gazette, 25 June 2010: Encaenia 2010

CONGREGATION 23 June

1 Conferment of Honorary Degrees

THE PUBLIC ORATOR made the following speeches in presenting the recipients of Honorary Degrees at the Encaenia held in the Sheldonian Theatre on Wednesday, 23 June:

Degree of Doctor of Civil Law

Justice STEPHEN GERALD BREYER

Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States

Omnes quidem omnibus in terris qui in subselliis forensibus sedent prudentiam doctrinam sagacitatem possidere debent; sed eis qui in Civitatibus Foederatis Americanis ad summum iudicum collegium evehuntur onus vel gravius imponitur. Ibi enim si aliud vult populus, aliud iubent principia legum a maioribus constituta, haec praevalebunt; maximi igitur momenti est opera iuris recte atque ordine interpretandi. Ecce vir qui fere quattuor lustra hoc officio praestantissime functus est. Californiae natus, apud Stanfordianos educatus, deinde unum e praemiis consecutus est a republica Britannica ideo conditis ut propter auxilium post bellum datum Americanis ageremus gratias. Itaque ad Angliam venit, ubi non solum doctrinam sed etiam uxorem nactus est. Apud nos non iurisprudentiae sed philosophiae et oeconomicae studuit; dicitur rerum oeconomicarum scientiam habere quam pauci inter iudices adaequare possint. Aliquot annos Harvardianos docuit, sed semper in silvis academiae nolebat morari; quare ad senatum Americanum se contulit, ubi tam bonam famam adeptus est ut cum eum Oxoniensem praeses Oxoniensis iudicem altissimi subsellii nominavisset, id patres ratum cito fecerint. De sedulitate eius multa narrantur: exempli gratia, ferunt eum tanta intentione ad operam olim incubuisse ut socios suos in urceum aquae pisces aureos inseruisse non animadverterit. Quae fabellae, licet fortasse plus hilaritatis quam veritatis habeant, satis tamen indicant eum gravitatem sine tristitia exhibere. Dicitur etiam pratulum suum ipse manu secare; nam etsi in altissimum locum ascenderat, modestiam usque servavit.

Praesento legum interpretem prudentissimum, Stephanum Geraldum Breyer, in summo reipublicae Americanae collegio iudicem, Collegii Sanctae Mariae Magdalenae alumnum et socium honoris causa adscriptum, ut admittatur honoris causa ad gradum Doctoris in Iure Civili.

Admission by the Chancellor

Iudex sagacissime, qui leges patriae tuae et docuisti et quodam modo statuisti, ego auctoritate mea et totius Universitatis admitto te ad gradum Doctoris in Iure Civili honoris causa.

Paraphrase

In every country those who sit on the bench need knowledge, judgement and intelligence, but those who are appointed to the Supreme Court of the United States have a still weightier responsibility laid upon them. For in that nation if popular will points in one direction and the constitution in another, it is the constitution that prevails; its right and proper interpretation is accordingly a matter of the highest importance. Here is a man who has carried out that duty admirably for the best part of twenty years. A native Californian, he was an undergraduate at Stanford University, before winning a Marshall Scholarship—one of those awards established by the government of the United Kingdom in gratitude for the Marshall Plan for post-war reconstruction. And so he came to England, which country has furnished him not only with more education but also with a wife. At Oxford it was not law that he studied but philosophy and economics, and he is said to have an understanding of economic issues that few judges can match. He taught law at Harvard for some years, but was reluctant to remain permanently in the groves of the academy, and so went to work for the US Congress, where he earned such a fine reputation that when he was nominated to the Supreme Court by his fellow Oxonian, President Clinton, the Senate was quick to confirm his appointment. There are various stories about his appetite for work; one of them relates that he was once so absorbed in his business that he failed to notice that his colleagues had put goldfish into his water-cooler. Though such anecdotes may be merely ben trovati, they do at least suggest that he is serious without being solemn. He is said still to mow his own lawn, since for all his eminence, his style of life has remained modest.

I present a profoundly judicious interpreter of the law, Stephen Gerald Breyer, judge of the Supreme Court of the United States of America, graduate and honorary fellow of Magdalen College, to be admitted to the honorary degree of Doctor of Civil Law.

Admission by the Chancellor

Wise judge, who have both taught the laws of your country and helped to shape them, I on my own authority and that of the whole University admit you to the honorary degree of Doctor of Civil Law.

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Lord SAINSBURY OF TURVILLE

Formerly Minister for Science and Innovation

Vates Gilbertus canit,

Mercator escae semper a deo factus
Malus scelestus, omen atque portentum.

Cur illam hominum immerentium gentem lacerare voluerit, non satis intellego; hodie saltem bonum mercatorem produco, qui non solum palata nostra titillavit sed toti reipublicae magnopere profuit. In evangelio legimus, 'Omni autem cui multum datum est, multum quaeretur ab eo'; quam sententiam hic vir forsitan in corde suo scriptam habeat. Nos fere omnes pecuniam ei interdum pependimus; nobis non solum cibaria et dona larga manu conlata sed etiam pietatem erga patriam constantem reddidit. Multos annos tabernas a suis maioribus institutas curavit et summum locum inter illos negotiatores attigit; argentariae familiari praeerat; sed munera etiam pro populo offerre cupiebat. Quare ad Senatum Britannicum provectus operam rationis designandae suscepit qua docti quaestiones naturales haberent. Raro, ut opinor, possunt ei qui medium cursus honorum ordinem occupant consilia principum mutare, hic vero cum magistratum iniisset, omnes mox novitatem gustaverunt. Eo duce fiscus ad scientiam naturae augendam sepositus fere triplicatus est; reperta doctorum ab officinis universitatum in usum publicum efficacius translata sunt; legati saepius ad sermones de philosophia naturali cum aliis gentibus habendos missi sunt; plebem quoque in his rebus erudiendum curavit. Quis nescit nummos in aerario nostro multum esse imminutos? sed licet magnae difficultates rempublicam circumstent, aliquatenus per hunc virum stat ut studium rerum naturae in universitatibus Britannicis adhuc praeter spem floreat.

Praesento virum negotii et privati et publici peritissimum, David Iohannem Baronem Sainsbury de Turville, inter magistratus industriae et commercio praepositos quondam administrum, Societati Regali sodalem honoris causa adscriptum, ut admittatur honoris causa ad gradum Doctoris in Iure Civili.

Admission by the Chancellor

Negotiator liberalis et perspicax, cui nostri scientiae naturalis investigatores grates reddunt, ego auctoritate mea et totius Universitatis admitto te ad gradum Doctoris in Iure Civili honoris causa.

Paraphrase

God made the wicked grocer
For a mystery and a sign.

So spoke the poet Chesterton, though I do not entirely understand why he wanted to excoriate that blameless body of men. At all events, today I present a good grocer, who has not only tickled our palates but done singular service to the nation as a whole. We read in the gospel that 'unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required', a thought that our honorand has perhaps written upon his heart. We have almost all of us paid him money from time to time; in return he has given us not only provisions and bountiful benefactions but also a strong sense of duty to his country. For many years he worked in the family business, rising to the position of chairman and chief executive; he chaired Sainsbury's Bank; but he also felt the call to public service. So, elevated to the House of Lords, he undertook the task of shaping a policy for scientific research. It is uncommon, I think, for ministers below cabinet rank to have a significant influence on public policy, but when this man took office, everybody could soon taste the difference. Under his leadership the budget for scientific research increased almost threefold; new schemes boosted knowledge transfer from universities to industry; scientific attachés were more frequently appointed to our embassies abroad; and programmes were developed to increase the public's engagement with science. We all know that the national coffers are now badly depleted; but although we face difficult challenges, it is in some measure due to today's honorand that research in British universities continues to flourish beyond expectation.

I present a man equally adept in business and in statecraft, David John Lord Sainsbury of Turville, Hon. FRS, formerly minister in the Department of Trade and Industry, to be admitted to the honorary degree of Doctor of Civil Law.

Admission by the Chancellor

Generous and imaginative man of affairs, to whom our scientists express their gratitude, I on my own authority and that of the whole University admit you to the honorary degree of Doctor of Civil Law.

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Degree of Doctor of Letters

Dame EILEEN ATKINS

Actor

Celeberrimus ex Oxoniensibus qui de rebus oeconomicis scripsit adfirmavit histriones ideo magnam pecuniam recipere quod quaestum tam humilem atque indignum aliter facere recusarent. Qua in re ille, sapiens mehercle et perspicax, procul dubio errabat; nostra enim aetate actores tantum lucrum tantum honorem adipisci possunt, ut saepius gloriae suae potius quam artis gratia in scaenam prodire videantur. Hic tamen adest femina quae semper fabulae auctoris propositum adfectat, non sui ostentationem. In theatro vivo (ut dicitur) maxime praestat: sive fabula nova est sive antiqua, sive tragoedia agitur sive comoedia, omnes spectatorum animos in se convertit; et si intellegere vis quid sit tragicomoedia, hanc perspice. At necessario plurimis hominibus propter partes cinematographicas et televisificas nota est, quibus etiam excellit; nam cum sublimitatem poeticam scit repraesentare, tum minimo motu vel oris vel supercilii plurimum impertit. Bene quidem πρωταγωνιστει bene eas partes agit quae saepe imaginibus ectypis comparantur: ubi matrem Philippi Larkin, poetae Oxoniensis, egit, fere nihil facere, tamen mulierem simul et molestam et misericordia dignam fingere videbatur. Nuper Deboram Elizabethae Gaskell egit; cuius lumen cum esset extinctum, lumen totius historiae quodam modo hebetabatur. Sunt histriones, etiam facundi et eloquentes, qui licet vocem et vultum mutent, indolem suam deponere nequeunt; sive Oedipus agitur seu scurra, sub persona idem homo percipi potest. At cum haec femina in scaenam venit, evanescere videtur et in aliam mulierem transfigurari; non induit personam, persona fit.

Praesento histrionem tam subtilem quam grandem, Eileen Atkins, Excellentissimi Ordinis Britannici Dominam Commendatricem, ut admittatur honoris causa ad gradum Doctoris in Litteris.

Admission by the Chancellor

Scaenae Britannicae decus et lumen, cuius arte spectatores cum ad risum tum ad lacrimas commoventur, ego auctoritate mea et totius Universitatis admitto te ad gradum Doctoris in Litteris honoris causa.

Paraphrase

Adam Smith, the most famous of Oxonian economists, explains in The Wealth of Nations that the reason why actors are so highly paid is that otherwise they could not be persuaded to take up so lowly and degraded a profession. For all his brilliance, the great man clearly got that one wrong: indeed, these days actors can earn so much money and admiration that they often seem to have been drawn into show business more by the appeal of celebrity than by their art. Here, however, is a lady whose aspiration is always to interpret the dramatist, not to show herself off. The live theatre is perhaps her truest home: in both classical and modern parts, in both tragedy and comedy, she grips the attention of every audience; and if you want to know what tragicomedy is, she is the one to study. But inevitably she is most widely known for her roles in film and on television, forms in which she also excels, for while she can rise to the heights of the classical parts, she can also convey a world of meaning by the slight movement of mouth or eyebrow. Her excellence as a leading lady is matched by her mastery of the cameo role; thus when she played the mother of Philip Larkin (an Oxonian poet, by the way), she seemed to do almost nothing, and yet to portray a woman who was both irritating and poignant. She has recently played Miss Deborah Jenkyns in Cranford; when the character died, much of its light seemed to have gone out of the whole series. There are actors—including some of the best—whose innate personality survives every alteration of accent and appearance: whether they are playing Hamlet or farce, the same person can be detected behind the mask. But when this lady comes on to the stage, she seems to vanish and to be transformed into another person. She does not put on the mask, she becomes it.

I present an actress as subtle as she is splendid, Eileen Atkins, DBE, to be admitted to the honorary degree of Doctor of Letters.

Admission by the Chancellor

Light and glory of the English stage, whose art can move audiences both to laughter and to tears, I on my own authority and that of the whole University admit you to the honorary degree of Doctor of Letters.

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Professor GEOFFREY HILL

Professor-elect of Poetry

Horatius adfirmavit si versus Ennii solveretur, poetae disiecta membra etiam esse mansura; id quod huic viro quem nunc produco adhibere posses, non ob paginam coloribus rhetoricis depictam (immo verbis quotidianis plerumque utitur), sed quia mente et animo in altissima penetralia Musarum sacrarii attingere videtur. Abhinc quinquaginta fere annos minimus natu erat ex eius saeculi poetis quorum flores existimator quidam satis notus in unum volumen contulit; qui addidit se eum non melius ut felem vel canem vocem humanam intellegere, tamen hoc pro certo habere, poetam eum esse verum. In uno ex carminibus scripsit, 'Remotus est et difficilis Deus'; haud scio an remotum etiam eum esse et difficilem Deus respondeat. Quod non negat ipse: 'Nos sumus difficiles,' inquit; 'difficiles sunt homines', adfirmatque nihil humanum a poeta alienum esse debere. Atqui simul contendit carmina sua esse simplicia, se ipsum voluptates sensuum magno ardore captare; poetas autem quos metaphysicos vocant admiratur quod in eis vigor mentis et apertus animi candor commisceantur. Ipsius poemata, tenebrosa sane sed interdum venustatis lyricae fulgoribus illuminata, vim temperatam ostendunt; omnis versus, omne fere verbum pondere significationis gravatur. Bene etiam de aliis poetis disseruit, bene discipulos instruxit: credit litteras tanta intentione esse examinandas ut cum apud Bostonienses principia poesis aestimandae doceret, tres totos menses nihil nisi Coriolanum Gulielmi Shakespeare explicaret; ita monstravit quantum lectores e medullis poesis exsorbere possint. Catullus se sperare dicit ut libellus suus 'plus uno maneat perenne saeclo'. Hoc precantur multi, pauci consequuntur; sed ecce poeta diu mansurus, qui lyricis vatibus inseretur.

Praesento poetarum nostri saeculi principem, Galfridum Gulielmum Hill, apud Universitatem Bostoniensem quondam Professorem, plausu universo nostrum Poetices Professorem nuperrime creatum, Collegii de Keble et alumnum et socium honoris causa adscriptum, ut admittatur honoris causa ad gradum Doctoris in Litteris.

Admission by the Chancellor

Profundorum explorator, qui aliis invisibilia vides, ego auctoritate mea et totius Universitatis admitto te ad gradum Doctoris in Litteris honoris causa.

Paraphrase

Horace declared that if you were to take a verse of Ennius to pieces, you would still find, even when dismembered, the limbs of a poet. One might say the same of the man whom I now present, not because he paints his page in rhetorical colours (indeed, he mostly uses plain language) but because his imagination seems to penetrate the inmost heart of the Muses' shrine. Half a century ago he was the youngest person included in that notable anthology, The Penguin Book of Contemporary Verse; its editor observed that he understood him only to the extent that a cat or dog understands human speech, but he was convinced that here was a true poet. In one of his poems come the words, 'God is distant, difficult.' One can imagine God retorting that the poet is distant and difficult too. He does not deny it: 'We are difficult,' he has said. 'Human beings are difficult'—and the poet should embrace every aspect of being human. Yet he also insists that his verse is simple, and that as a poet he is sensuous and passionate, and indeed he admires the metaphysical poets for combining strength of intellect with direct and open feeling. His own verse, dark but lit up from time to time with the light of lyric grace, displays a controlled force; every line, every word almost, bears the weight of import. He is also an admirable critic and teacher: his sense of the intensity that should be brought to literary study is brought out by his practice, when teaching the principles of criticism to his pupils at Boston University, of spending a whole semester entirely on Coriolanus, to show them how much juice they can suck from the marrow of poetry. 'May it survive a century and better,' wrote Catullus of his own small volume. Many poets nurse that hope, and few achieve it, but here is a poet who will survive, to take his place among the canon.

I present a master poet of our age, Geoffrey William Hill, emeritus University Professor at Boston University, to general acclaim newly elected to be our own Professor of Poetry, graduate and honorary fellow of Keble College, to be admitted to the honorary degree of Doctor of Letters.

Admission by the Chancellor

Searcher of the depths, who see what others have not seen, I on my own authority and that of the whole University admit you to the honorary degree of Doctor of Letters.

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Sir IAN KERSHAW

Professor Emeritus of Modern History, University of Sheffield

Est in comitatu Eboracensi vallis saxis et montibus inclusa, e qua erumpit amnis qui motu iam leniore fluens abbatiae antiquae ruinas in campo viridi sitas subterlabitur. In hoc loco formosissimo et placidissimo numen inesse facile existimares; vasto spatio et terrae et temporis a facinoribus diris et nefasta crudelitate tertii illius quod fuit in Germania imperii distare videatur. Hic tamen adest vir qui et illos monachos et haec scelera summo acumine perscrutatus est; inter gregem hominum doctorum vix unum invenias, ut opinor, qui res tam diversas tanta eruditione explicaverit. In comitatu Lancastrensi natus et educatus, Oxoniae studium saeculorum mediaevalium produxit doctorque in philosophia factus est; tum ad incunabula sua rediit et in partibus septentrionalibus usque ad praesens tempus manere maluit. At cum apud Germanos linguae discendae causa peregrinaretur, nescioquo pacto in scriptorem illius gentis et historiae recentioris est transfiguratus. Etsi vitam Adolphi Hitler duobus chartis 'doctis, Iuppiter, et laboriosis' indagavit, quas cum plurimi emerunt tum doctissimi etiamnunc consulunt, unum virum vel paucos magnarum rerum eventum conficere non credit; quamobrem sententias hominum mediocrium, varias sane et incertas, subtiliter examinavit. Constat ipsius indolem vigorem animi et candorem praestare qui regioni Angliae septentrionali proprii esse dicuntur; sed comis, alacer, superbiae omnino expers, mores patriae suae non tristes immo hilares esse demonstrat. Licet paucos modo annos apud nos studuerit, ei qui hac aetate eum cognoverunt de eo adhuc non solum admiratione sed etiam amore quodam loquuntur.

Praesento rerum et mediaevalium et recentiorum scriptorem praeclarissimum, Iohannem Kershaw, Equitem Auratum, apud Universitatem Sheffieldensem quondam historiae professorem, Academiae Britanniae socium, Collegii Mertonensis et alumnum et socium honoris causa adscriptum, ut admittatur honoris causa ad gradum Doctoris in Litteris.

Admission by the Chancellor

Amentiae et saevitiae explicator aeque et humane, cuius libri cum permultos allexerunt tum doctores docuerunt, ego auctoritate mea et totius Universitatis admitto te ad gradum Doctoris in Litteris honoris causa.

Paraphrase

There is a valley in Yorkshire enclosed by steep and rocky hills; a river breaks from it, and flows with a gentler current past a green expanse on which stand the ancient ruins of Bolton Abbey. So lovely and peaceful is the spot that one may readily feel that 'a god is in this place'; it seems vastly removed in both time and space from the appalling crimes and cruelties of the Third Reich. Yet here is a man who has made brilliant studies both of the medieval monastery and of Nazi Germany; among all the tribe of professors you will scarcely find another, I imagine, who has written so learnedly on such widely different topics. He was born and brought up in Lancashire, but it was in Oxford that he began research into the Middle Ages and earned his doctorate; he then returned to his native patch and has chosen to spend his whole career in the north of England. However, while spending time in Germany to learn the language, he somehow metamorphosed into a student of that nation's modern history. Although he has produced a two-volume life of Hitler, 'learned stuff, by God, and lots of work' (as Catullus might have said), a continuing resource for scholars which was also a best-seller, he is sceptical about the 'great man' theory of history, and has accordingly given careful attention to the attitudes of ordinary people, in all their muddle and variety. Everyone says that his character shows those qualities of energy and forthrightness which are supposed to mark people from his part of England, while his sociability, enthusiasm and complete absence of pretension suggest that it's not grim up north, but rather jolly. Although he was in Oxford only a few years, those who knew him at that time continue to speak of him not only with admiration but with affection.

I present a great master of both medieval and modern history, Sir Ian Kershaw, FBA, emeritus Professor of History at the University of Sheffield, graduate and honorary Fellow of Merton College, to be admitted to the honorary degree of Doctor of Letters.

Admission by the Chancellor

Calm and humane historian of cruelty and folly, whose works have both instructed the learned and allured the general reader, I on my own authority and that of the whole University admit you to the honorary degree of Doctor of Letters.

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Lord WEIDENFELD OF CHELSEA

Publisher

Philosophus quidam Poloniensis dicere solebat Britanniam in Europa esse insulam, Oxoniam in Britannia, in Oxonia suum Omnium Animarum Collegium; quae addebat sibi placere. Pastor ille Vergilianus 'penitus toto divisos orbe Britannos' abhorruit; huius dicti unus e nostris poetis memor fuit, ubi adfirmavit olim nos a communitate hominum divisos fuisse. Hoc saltem est certum, patriam saepenumero cultu doctrina ipsis hominibus e media Europa ortis esse excitatam. Homo quem nunc produco eximium locum inter eos occupat qui abhinc quattuordecim vel quindecim lustra apud nos scelus exitiumque fugerunt. Primo commentarios scripsit, deinde sermones radiophonicos composuit, mox cum socio quodam prelum instruxit. 'Faciendi plures libros,' inquit Ecclesiastes, 'nullus est finis, frequensque meditatio carnis adflictio est.' A quo facile cernere possis illum praedicatorem volumina quae hic vir edidisset non legisse. Plurimos quidem libros sane fecit, sed qui menti et animo voluptatem adferunt. Magna est eorum varietas: is largo in campo versatur qui et volumen cui Lolita inscribitur et commentarios Ioannis Pauli Papae publicavit. ab initio libros de multis Europae gentibus eligebat; et cum ipse ornamentum conviviorum Londiniensium factus sit, tamen habitum sibi iuveni notum haudquaquam reliquit: dicunt ei qui domum eius urbanam intraverunt se visos esse Lutetiam vel Vindobonam et ad illud saeculum quod bellum vocatur velut arte magica esse transvectos. Apte igitur cathedram quam nostrae universitati dedit ad litteras gentium diversarum comparandas dedicavit.

Praesento magnum librorum editorem magnum gentis humanae amicum, Arturum Georgium Baronem Weidenfeld, Equitem Auratum, Collegii Sancti Petri et Collegii Sanctae Annae socium honoris causa adscriptum, ut admittatur honoris causa ad gradum Doctoris in Litteris.

Admission by the Chancellor

Bibliopola peritissime, qui lectoribus innumeris voluptatem attulisti, ego auctoritate mea et totius Universitatis admitto te ad gradum Doctoris in Iure Civili honoris causa.

Paraphrase

An eminent Polish philosopher was fond of remarking that England was an island in Europe, Oxford an island in England, and his own college of All Souls an island in Oxford. He would add that he rather liked it that way. The shepherd in Virgil shuddered at the thought of 'the Britons utterly separated from the whole world', a sentiment adjusted by Tennyson when he wrote of 'the Northern Island, Sundered once from all the human race'. Of this at least there can be no doubt, that our country has constantly been energised by the stimulus of culture, ideas and people themselves coming out of the heart of Europe. The man whom I now present holds a high place among those came to us some seventy and more years ago, driven from their homes by ruthless evil. After a little time of writing articles for magazines, and then as a radio broadcaster, he and a colleague founded their publishing house. 'Of making many books there is no end,' says Ecclesiastes, 'and much study is a weariness of the flesh.' From which you will see that the Preacher did not have the chance to read the works published by our honorand. Undoubtedly he has 'made many books', but ones that delight the mind and spirit. Their range is remarkable: it is a man of wide perspectives who has published both Lolita and the reflections of Pope John Paul II. From the start his list had a large continental element, and although he has become one of the luminaries of London society, he has by no means lost the style which he knew in his youth: those who have visited his town home report that they seemed to have been magically transported to the Paris or Vienna of the belle époque. It is fitting, therefore, that the professorship with which he has endowed this university is dedicated to the comparative study of different literatures.

I present a man notable equally as a publisher and as a friend of the human race, Arthur George Lord Weidenfeld, Knight, honorary fellow of St Peter's College and St Anne's College, to be admitted to the honorary degree of Doctor of Letters.

Admission by the Chancellor

Skilful publisher, who have brought pleasure to countless readers, I on my own authority and that of the whole University admit you to the honorary degree of Doctor of Letters.

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Degree of Doctor of Science

Professor BRIGITTE ASKONAS

Immunologist, and Visiting Professor, Imperial College, London

Bella plus quam civilia in partibus intimis nostrorum corporum geruntur: oppugnant hostes tam saevi quam minuti, tela letalia vibrantes. Sed quam mirabile est corpus humanum: latent in ipsa materie semina quae invadentibus resistant et saepe victoriam reportent. Qui huic medicinae generi student immunologi vocantur, quo verbo audito gaudent aegri grammatici perhorrescunt. Principem inter eos nunc produco, quae etiam iuvenis a Canada, patria sua, ad hanc insulam advecta est. Immunologiae Britannicae eo tempore aureum fuit saeculum; primum Cantabrigiae deinde in vico Londini septentrionali inter illius disciplinae peritissimos ad investigationem se contulit. Cellulas litteris B et T designatas diu scrutata est; tum macrophagis operam dedit, quorum voracitatem auditoribus explicare nolo qui forsitan nondum ientaculum omnino concoxerint. Ipsa acutissima, aliorum acuminis fuit causa; multos enim magnum nomen adepturos docuit atque fovit. Duos in primis memoro, qui postquam tirocinium apud eam persolverant, Oxoniae rem tanti momenti reppererunt ut omnis immunologiae scientia fere uno die mutaretur. In commentario quem de vita sua scripsit pauca de se ipsa, de scientia et magistris et sociis multa est locuta. Constat inter omnes eam in senectute animum servare iuvenilem; alacris, humana, doctrinae suae liberalis, ardet adhuc sermonem cum eis conferre qui iter ad scientiam nuper inierunt. Itaque cum ad casulam quam in comitatu Oxoniensi possidet iter facit, saepe ad officinas nostras devertit ut natu iuniores erudiat, confirmet, hortetur. Quare hodie non solum quaestionum naturalium explanatricem oculatissimam sed etiam amicam salutamus.

Praesento medicinae magistram praestantissimam, Brigittam Aliciam Askonas, Societatis Regalis sodalem, immunologorum apud collegium Britannicum ad scientiam medicinae augendam institutam quondam praesidem, ut admittatur honoris causa ad gradum Doctoris in Scientia.

Admission by the Chancellor

Femina doctissima, quae repertis tuis aegros adiuvisti, exemplo discipulos arrexisti, ego auctoritate mea et totius Universitatis admitto te ad gradum Doctoris in Scientia honoris causa.

Paraphrase

'Wars worse than civil', in Lucan's phrase, are waged in the innermost parts of our bodies; we are under attack from enemies as ruthless as they are tiny, brandishing their deadly weapons. But what a marvellous thing is the human body: in its very fabric are cells which resist the invaders and often emerge victorious. Immunology is the name given to this branch of medicine—a term to make the philologists shudder and the sick rejoice. I now present one of the leaders in this field, who came to this island from her native Canada early in her career. It was the golden age of British immunology, and she was able to join the very finest researchers in the subject, first at Cambridge and then at Mill Hill in north London. She gave years of attention to B and T cells, before turning to macrophages—voracious organisms whose behaviour I am reluctant to explain to an audience that may not yet have finished digesting its breakfast. Brilliant herself, she has also inspired brilliance in others; she has taught and supported the careers of a number of people who have gone on to great things. I note two especially, who after having served their apprenticeship with her made here in Oxford a discovery so important that it is said to have transformed immunology overnight. She has written an article about her own career in which she says little about herself but much about her subject, her mentors and her colleagues. All agree that age has not diminished her youthfulness of spirit; lively, friendly, and generous in sharing her knowledge, she remains committed to discussion with researchers on the threshold of their careers. When she goes to her cottage in Oxfordshire, she often calls in on the Weatherall Institute to instruct, advise and encourage the young. And so today we hail not only a penetrating scientific researcher but also a friend.

I present a medical scientist of masterly achievement, Brigitte Alice Askonas, FRS, formerly head of the immunological division of the National Institute for Medical Research, to be admitted to the honorary degree of Doctor of Science.

Admission by the Chancellor

Most learned lady, who have succoured the sick by your discoveries and inspired your pupils by your example, I on my own authority and that of the whole University admit you to the honorary degree of Doctor of Letters.

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Professor ROALD HOFFMANN

Frank H.T. Rhodes Professor Emeritus of Humane Letters, Cornell University

Si quis de philosophia naturali scribit, magna contentione afficitur eius oratio; nam quae verbis exprimi non posse videntur, verbis ea significare conatur; quare sermo talium philosophorum colore poetico tingitur. Hanc sententiam non ego adfirmo sed hic vir qui hodie agmen honorandorum conficit. Itaque mihi ignoscet si reperta eius, difficilia quidem intellectu, difficiliora verbis Ciceronianis descriptu, copiose explicare non nitar; satis sit dicere eum rationem qua mathematici coitum numerorum scrutentur ad res chimicas adhibuisse et de corpusculis minimis in gyrum moventibus tanta ingenii acie scripsisse ut vix e iuventute egressus praemium Nobelianum nancisceretur. Unum e magistris suis laudavit quod melius omnibus aliis pulchritudinem in rebus chimicis latentem perceperit; quae verba de eo ipso loqui possis. Non credit cultum hominum in duas partes esse dividendum: itaque singulis mensibus in vico Novi Eboraci multos ad tabernam quandam attrahit ut rerum natura disputetur symphonia canat poemata recitentur. Cum carmina rerum naturae scientia imbuta condidit, tum rerum naturam poetice descripsit; praeterea et libros et commentarios indagavit in quibus doctrinam chimicorum, obscuram sane et tenebricosam, lucidis verbis explicavit; id quod tanto lepore tantisque facetiis gessit ut sine labore composuisse videatur. Plurimis honoribus iam cumulatus, in silvis academiae locum praestantissimum diu occupavit, sed non prius ad istud Elysium attigit quam iter durum vicerat. Poloniae natus, cum ad Americam pervenit, iam quinque linguis usus erat, et ut Aeneas atque Ulixes multos errores multa pericula superaverat. Ut ille ad terram remotam vectus dicere potest, 'Hic domus haec patria est', et ut hic non solum Ithacam colit sed novas peregrinationes usque quaerit, novos labores. Nuper in Iordania iuvenes e gentibus inter se discordantibus ortos chimia erudivit; nam hoc praesertim, ut ipse dicit, gloriatur, aliorum praeceptorem se fuisse.

Praesento virum in cuius animo ratio et fantasia coniunguntur, Roald Hoffmann, apud Universitatem Cornellianam chimiae professorem, praemio Nobeliano nobilitatum, ut admittatur honoris causa ad gradum Doctoris in Scientia.

Admission by the Chancellor

Magister sapientissime, qui res chimicas doctissimis docuisti ignaris explicavisti, ego auctoritate mea et totius Universitatis admitto te ad gradum Doctoris in Scientia honoris causa.

Paraphrase

The language of science is a language under stress, because it tries to express in words concepts that seem to be inexpressible; and so the language of science has a poetic quality. These are not my sentiments but those of the man who completes the line of honorands today. He will presumably forgive me, therefore, if I do not struggle to expound at length his discoveries, hard enough to understand and harder still to set out in classical Latin prose; let it suffice to say that he has applied the insights of mathematical group theory to chemistry and described orbital symmetry with such penetrating originality that he won the Nobel Prize when he was barely into middle age. He has praised one of his own masters for bringing an unsurpassed aesthetic sense to chemical theory—words which may be applied to himself. He does not believe that there are 'two cultures'; and so once a month he holds popular meetings at a café in Greenwich Village, which combine a scientific presentation with music or a poetry recital. He has written poetry informed by science, and conversely he talks about science in a poetic way; he has, besides, published books and essays to elucidate the difficult and obscure facts of chemistry to a general readership, and done so with an elegance and wit that appear almost effortless. He has had a great many honours piled upon him and has long held an eminent position in the groves of the academy, but he had a hard road to travel before arriving at this Elysium. He was born in Poland, and when he came to America, English was his sixth language, and like Aeneas or Ulysses he had survived many perils and much wandering. Like the Trojan, he can say of his arrival in a distant country 'Here is our home, this is our fatherland'; and like the Greek not only does he live in Ithaca but he remains restless for new travels and new challenges. He has recently given a chemistry course in Jordan, bringing together young people who come from countries at enmity with one another. He says himself that the achievement in which he takes most pride is that of being a teacher.

I present a man in whom intellect and imagination are combined, Roald Hoffmann, Professor of Chemistry at Cornell University, Nobel Laureate, to be admitted to the honorary degree of Doctor of Science.

Admission by the Chancellor

Most wise master, who have explained chemistry to the layman and given new understanding of it to the experts, I on my own authority and that of the whole University admit you to the honorary degree of Doctor of Science.

2 Encaenia

THE PUBLIC ORATOR delivered the following Oration 'in commemoration of the Benefactors of the University according to the intention of the Right Honourable Nathaniel, Lord Crewe, Bishop of Durham':

THE PUBLIC ORATOR: Honoratissime Domine Cancellarie, licetne Anglice loqui?

THE CHANCELLOR: Licet.

THE PUBLIC ORATOR: It scarcely seems a year since we were last gathered here. The days pass all too fast, and I have always been puzzled by those philosophers who have claimed that time is unreal. If only that were true; as it is, nothing seems more ineluctably real. But today, at this festival of commemoration and renewal, we can enjoy our immersion in the stream of time, and feel a certain buoyancy as we are carried along its current, sustained by the benefactions of earlier generations and contemplating the mists of futurity, wondering about those who will study and teach here long after we are gone. Throughout our long history the generosity of our friends and supporters has stimulated the generosity of others, and it is good to be able to say that this is still true; it is indeed an especial pleasure to celebrate the success of Dr James Martin's Twenty-first Century School Challenge. He has matched the gifts of some thirty different donors and funders—money which will support almost twenty projects on subjects as various as the future of cities, brain manipulation, and the design of vaccines.

We need eager minds to teach, and we need the owners of those eager minds to be able to come here. The Francis Napier Fund, created out of a very substantial bequest from Mr Napier, will support disabled undergraduates in their studies. We have had large gifts from Pacific Alliance Investment Management for the Pacific Alliance Oxford Scholarships, and from Birla International Ltd for the Basant Kumar and Sarala Birla graduate scholarships in linguistics. And Mr Raffy Manoukian has set up the Raffy Manoukian Scholarships. We are very grateful to them all. It is of course important not only to give our students the support they need but to attract them to come here in the first place. A cruder orator would brag about our coming first in the Independent's Complete University Guide, first for the sixth year running in the Guardian's 2011 university guide, and first for the ninth year running in The Times Good University Guide; but we are too modest to dwell on such things. Even so, I have been told that I ought not to go on boasting about the University year after year. Ever sensitive to audience response, this year I mean to turn over a new leaf: instead, I shall boast about myself. Indeed, I can combine both functions, since in a proud first for this University, the Orator has been quoted and pictured in Hello! magazine, and I can now have no ambitions left. I should like to be able to reveal that I was inviting the magazine's readership into my gracious East Oxford home, but a concern for truth—something that dons do care about—compels the admission that the subject of the article was the ballerina Darcey Bussell, on whom we conferred an honorary degree last July. What is more, the photographs gave more prominence to the Proctors and the Registrar, and it wasn't my best profile—a little upsetting, really. So fame has brushed me merely with the tip of its gossamer wing. All the same, when it comes to the impact section of the impending REF, I shall hope for a special prominence. And I can console myself with the thought that within the University I am credited with extraordinary powers. We are keen to keep our degree ceremonies to the highest standards of political correctness, and high authority asked the Proctors to summon the Orator for advice on how to de-gender the Latin language. I have to say that the Proctors could have summoned Julius Caesar, and he would have been unable to assist them.

Last autumn we welcomed Professor Hamilton to the splendeurs et misères of the Vice-Chancellorship. Oxford's usual way of welcoming a new Vice-Chancellor is for a building to fall down. Last time it was the roof of this theatre that gave way; this time a house in the Iffley House collapsed while being converted into flats. The contractors blamed it on rain; apparently this phenomenon, which consists in the precipitation of drops of water from large vaporous masses in the sky, had taken them by surprise. The rain will continue to fall on Oxford, and this Vice-Chancellor, like his predecessors, will be a builder and restorer. When he arrived, he told the Oxford Times that for the first six months he would be a listener. Six months are up, but as far as I know, he is listening still. His vigour and enthusiasm are evident to us all; it remains only to wish him the best of luck and every possible success. We are confident that under its new manager Hamilton Academical will continue to play in the premier division.

This has been an astonishing time for our museums. Last year it was the Pitt Rivers Museum that took the spotlight; this year the great event has of course been the reopening of the Ashmolean. Actually, the Ashmolean has been a sort of Sinatra in reverse, having almost as many reopenings as Ol' Blue Eyes had final performances. At one of these the Vice-Chancellor told us that we had the greatest university museum in the world for the greatest university in the world. This boosterism—so un-English! Where can he have got it from? But although we never boast, the redevelopment is indeed stunning, surpassing even the sunniest expectations, and I hardly need to add to the loud and universal chorus of praise that it has received. I notice that some of the labelling has been brought up to date. Perhaps the most elegant piece of Greek painted pottery in the collection, formerly called 'Man Courting a Boy', is now labelled 'Paedophile and Victim'.

The Ashmolean is among the recipients of the magnificent donation made by the Clore Duffield Foundation, along with Lady Margaret Hall, the Oxford Institute of Ageing and the University Church; part of this gift will also go to fund graduate scholarships in the Humanities. The Ashmolean's redevelopment is also one of the objects of the splendid benefaction from Mr Zvi Meitar; the other recipients are the Oxford Philomusica, the Department of Physiology, Anatomy and Genetics, the Bodleian Library, and the Oxford University Boat Club. The Tasso Leventis Conservation Foundation has made a very large gift for the Tasso Leventis Chair of Biodiversity. The biosphere is indeed diverse, and to judge from the science blog that has been enlivening the University's Web site recently, every part of it, from bacteria to the great apes, has had its privacy invaded by researchers in this place. One blog reported on the work of the Oxford Silk Group—surely quite the most decadent corner of the Science Area. Their studies of golden orb silk-weaving spiders have shown that biomimetic science can potentially transform medical and green technologies: 'silk,' they report, 'saves bodies and the environment'. Like me, you will have ordered a new set of underwear immediately.

In a less glamorous corner of the Department of Plant Sciences, Dr Mark Fricker has been part of an international team which has discovered that 'slime moulds can produce networks as efficient, cost-effective and resilient as railway networks designed by people, despite having no central control over what they build'. So if you have ever been stuck in a train outside Didcot, watching the greasy raindrops slide down the windows, and said to yourself, 'This is slightly worse than slime mould', you have anticipated our finest scientific minds. Another of our researchers' discoveries is a sea cucumber found at a depth of more than 9,000 feet. According to The Times, 'It ends its meal with a flourish, transforming itself into an impressive curved shape before moving on in search of more food.' I believe I have met the sea cucumber at high table, heading for dessert.

Turning to higher forms of life, we can report that generous gifts from Mr Lawrence Tang and from the Born Free Foundation have come to WildCRU, the Wildlife Conservation Research Unit, to whose work tribute of a different kind has been paid in the Birthday Honours, in the form of a CBE awarded to its director, Professor David Macdonald. Our zoologists have meanwhile identified in Madagascar the most endangered primate in the world: it is a cyanide-eating lemur. My advice to the lemur is to cut down on the cyanide. Further still up the evolutionary ladder, our scientists have reported that Neanderthals were more intelligent than previously supposed because they used jewellery and make-up. But perhaps a 'not' has dropped out of that sentence. Finally we arrive at homo sapiens. The Li Ka Shing Foundation has made a magnificent donation for the Li Ka Shing Global Health Programme, as also has the Gatsby Charitable Foundation, joining the Wellcome Trust in a strategic award for the Oxford Centre for Neural Circuits and Behaviour. Meanwhile, Professor Margaret Esiri has invited people to donate their brains to assist her research into autism. Those interested in contributing are assured that their brains will not be required until after their demise—whether or not it makes any difference to them.

'The proper study of mankind is man,' says the poet, and that applies to the sciences and the humanities alike. Dr Leonard Polonsky has made a noble gift to the Bodleian Library, and the Stanley and Zea Lewis Family Foundation have also given a munificent donation for the Stanley Lewis Chair in Israel Studies. Indeed, our studies range across the whole world, and as an international university we also especially value any recognition we get from other countries. We received a tribute of a special kind from Mr Ali Kordan, formerly Iran's Minister of the Interior, who not only awarded himself an Oxford degree without the inconvenience of studying here but wrote the citation in his praise himself. May I commend the practice to future honorands; it would save me a world of trouble. Once the Supreme Leader discovered that he was not after all an Oxford man, of course he lost his place in the government. Looking across the Atlantic, I have to admit that our representation in Congress is not what it was. Until last year, however, Oxford had two places on the Supreme Court. It is now down to one, but President Obama, naturally enough, has seen that this won't do, and has nominated a second; if Ms Kagan of Worcester is confirmed, the Supreme Court will have more Oxonians than Protestants. American statesmen seem to favour English places when naming their children. One is touched, to be sure, but at the risk of sounding ungracious, one cannot help feeling that they have missed some opportunities. Mrs Palin called her daughter Bristol, although other university cities were available, and Mr Clinton of Univ named his daughter Chelsea—but why not Summertown? Where was his loyalty to the old place?

There has been much activity in British politics. The expenses scandal has rumbled on in the background, but we have continued to play gratifyingly little part in that. The MP who tried to claim for his bell-tower was educated in another place, but we have a lot of bell-towers in Oxford, and we want him to know that we do understand. As it happens, HEFCE has just taken away our bell-tower money, and very painful it is too. In 2007 the country decided to try going without an Oxonian as Prime Minister and after a year the world's financial system collapsed. The experiment has been tried before: there was no Oxonian in the premiership between 1916 and 1945. And look what happened: the Bolshevik Revolution, the Great Depression, the Second World War, and the rise of the great dictators. Say what you like about Hitler and Stalin, you can tell—you really can—that they were not Oxford men. The moral is that you can pick non-Oxford prime ministers if you like. It's just not a very good idea.

As exclusively predicted in the Creweian Oration last year, we have an Oxonian as prime minister again. It is indeed a remarkable record: there have been eighteen general elections since the war, and sixteen of them have been won by parties led by Oxonians. The other two successful leaders were not graduates. So: eighteen fixtures; Oxford 16, Rest of the World's Universities Nil—or so I should have observed, were I less firm in my resolution not to boast. At least you may be glad to hear of one competition in which an English team can score. In Mr Cameron Brasenose acquires its first prime minister since Henry Addington, remembered chiefly for the rhyme written about him by Mr Canning of Christ Church: 'Pitt is to Addington, As London is to Paddington.' The old DNB declares that he was popular with the king and the country gentry because of his very mediocrity, and that in his old age he described himself as 'the last of the port-wine faction'. His successor seems to be made of sterner stuff. My pupils have explained to me the reason for Mr Cameron's stamina: it is his training here in combining the essay crisis with a vigorous social life. So there you have it: he owes it all to the Bullingdon.

This is perhaps the most Oxonian government since Mr Wilson's first administration in the 1960s. Nine of the cabinet are our graduates, the same number as in Mr Brown's first cabinet, but now all four of the great offices of state are in Oxford hands. Seven of the nine read PPE, and so will have studied at least some economics; that does not include the Chancellor of the Exchequer. But perhaps we can assist him: we are in a better position than ever to do so, as we have been given very substantial donations by KPMG for the KPMG Chair in Taxation Law, and by Nomura International for the Nomura Centre for Mathematical Finance and the Nomura Chair in the same subject. I recall Lord Healey of Balliol observing that when he first had dealings with the Treasury, it contained plenty of people who knew about Latin verse, and no one much who knew about economics, and when he returned as Chancellor, it contained plenty of people who knew about economics and no one much who knew about Latin verse. There was something to be said for and against each state of affairs, he thought, but on the whole he preferred it when they knew about Latin verse. Lord Healey read Greats.

Four of the cabinet are Magdalen men. What would Oscar have thought? As he once wrote, 'The dullness of tutors and professors matters very little when one can loiter in the grey cloisters at Magdalen, and listen to some flute- like voice singing in Waynflete's chapel, or lie in the green meadow, among the strange snake-spotted fritillaries.' One does not so readily imagine (let us say) Mr William Hague in that languidly recumbent pose. Anxiety may be furrowing the brow of yet another Magdalen man, Mr Bertie Wooster; you may recall that when his Aunt Agatha tried to make him secretary to a cabinet minister, he shinned down a drainpipe and fled to the south of France. Jeeves will be advising him to give the next gaudy a miss in baulk.

Magdalen apart, the traditional nurseries of statesmen make little showing in the new government, whereas LMH sees its first graduate in a British cabinet, and St Anne's and St Hugh's their second. As for the opposition, it is not a secret that all three of the front-runners for the Labour leadership read PPE here about twenty or twenty-five years back. Probably they were cloned in our Genetics Unit according to a patent formula (1,000 Milibands equal one Attlee); there were two models, the Ed and the Miliband, with a hybrid version also available. But it was careless not to remove the labels before they left the laboratory. A few years ago I used to pass a lot of scaffolding on my way to work, and a hoarding which read 'Alterations—Department of Genetics'. I have often wondered what they were up to.

Six new heads of college are due to arrive in the autumn. Sir David Watson will follow Professor Colin Bundy at Green Templeton, Sir Martin Taylor will succeed Dame Jessica Rawson at Merton, and Sir Jonathan Phillips become Warden of Keble in succession to Dame Averil Cameron. Dr Nick Brown will take over from Professor Paul Slack at Linacre, Dame Fiona Caldicott at Somerville will hand over the reins to Dr Alice Prochaska, and Mr Mark Damazer will assume the Mastership of St Peter's vacated by Professor Bernard Silverman. I will mention one other appointment. We do not usually allow our honorands to answer back—who knows what they might say?—but next year Professor Hill will be delivering the second part of the Creweian Oration from the other proctor's box. Your programmes had to go to press before the result of the election was known, but at least a brief expression of congratulation appeared in the oration as it was spoken and as it will appear in the Gazette.

The British Academy continues to scoop up our colleagues by the sackload. In its most recent election it bestowed fellowships on seven of us: Professors William Beinart, Malcolm Godden, Roger Pearson, Christopher Pelling and David Womersley, and Drs Robin Briggs and Jean Dunbabin. That makes twenty-three new fellows from this University in the last three years—a remarkable figure. Four of us have been elected Fellows of the Royal Society: Professors Philip Candelas, Georg Gottlob, Robert Griffiths and Ian Hickson. Professor Valerie Beral has scored in both of the two most recent honours lists, becoming a dame in January and a Companion of the Order of Australia earlier this month. In the New Year list Professor Marcus du Sautoy became an OBE and Professor Bob Williams an MBE. The Birthday Honours list has brought a knighthood to Professor Fergus Millar, an MBE to Dr Peter Carey, and as I have already mentioned, a CBE to Professor David Macdonald.

Once more I call to mind those of our friends and colleagues who have died in the past year, among whom were Sir Ian Brownlie, Fellow of All Souls, Eric Buckley, Fellow of Linacre, Dennis Burden, Fellow of Trinity, John Burrow, Fellow of Balliol, Charles Caine, Fellow of St Peter's, John Clarke, Fellow of Linacre, Jerry Cohen, Fellow of All Souls, Simon Digby, Fellow of Wolfson, Sir Kenneth Dover, President of Corpus Christi, Elizabeth Fallaize, Fellow of St John's, Kenneth Garlick, Fellow of Balliol, David Hawkes, Fellow of All Souls, Anthony Hopwood, Student of Christ Church, George Jones, Fellow of Wolfson, Leszek Kolakowski, Fellow of All Souls, Sir Hugh Lloyd-Jones, Student of Christ Church, Pamela McKinnon, Fellow of St Hilda's, John Mason, Student of Christ Church, Bruce Mitchell, Fellow of St Edmund Hall, John Nunn, Fellow of Exeter, Lady Park of Monmouth, Principal of Somerville, David Pears, Student of Christ Church, Jack Pole, Fellow of St Catherine's, Lord Quinton, President of Trinity, Mortimer Sackler, benefactor, Erich Segal, Fellow of Wolfson, Jim Sharpe, Fellow of Nuffield, Ann Smart, Fellow of St Hugh's, Roger Van Noorden, Fellow of Hertford, Michael Williams, Fellow of Oriel, Lord Wolfson of Marylebone, benefactor, and Claud Wright, Fellow of Wolfson. Requiescant in pace et in aeternum luceat eis Dominus Illuminatio Mea.

All these have been mourned and commemorated, each in their own way—their work and service, their virtues, perhaps their foibles too. I will end with a thought from just one of them, Daphne Park. Her obituaries in the national press contained some gloriously entertaining anecdotes about her career as a spy, but I was struck most of all by a remark that she made in her later years: 'It's a marvellous life,' she said, 'and I wish I could go on for ever.' Well, so it is—and I too wish that I could go on for ever. But you do not.

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