The former president of Chile, Michelle Bachelet, and Professor Simon Schama were among those given honorary degrees at Oxford University’s recent Encaenia.

Crowds gathered behind small fences to watch the procession of honoured guests and senior members of the university as they made their way – clad in ceremonial robes – from the front gate of Exeter College to the Sheldonian Theatre, via Brasenose Lane, Radcliffe Square, Catte street and the Bodleian Library quadrangle.

Honorands included former, and first female president of Chile, Michelle Bachelet, who also served as the UN human rights chief from 2018 to 2022, Val McDermid, an award-winning journalist and number-one bestselling author and Professor Simon Schama, who lectures in art history and history at Columbia University in New York, and who has authored 19 books.

Professor Frances Arnold, an American chemical engineer and Nobel Prize laureate, Lyse Doucet, the BBC’s chief international correspondent, and Professor Stephen Furber, professor of computer engineering at the University of Manchester, were also recipients.

Honorary degrees were also given to Professor Paul Gilroy, a cultural and social theorist, and professor of humanities at University College London, and Professor Malik Peiris, professor of virology at the school of public health, university of Hong Kong.

In a video recorded by Oxford University following the event, Ms Bachelet said: “Having been president I’ve been in many very important ceremonies; I think this is one I will never forget.

“Even though tradition can be so strong like it is here, that doesn’t mean we’re not completely involved in the modern world.”

Speaking in the same video, Mr Schama said: “As well as the gorgeous limestone, and the beauty and the ceremony, there’s something tough and steely and vital about universities like Oxford.”

Mr Paul Gilroy said: “This has always been a place where curiosity, and imagination, are value without limit, and I think that is something that shouldn’t be a luxury, but should actually find its way back from here into other spaces and institutions.”

Val McDermid added: “I was lucky when I was a student at Oxford to make a lot of good friends, and many of them have stayed in touch over the years. That’s what I’ll always remember.

“When I think of Oxford it’s the friends I made, the conversations I had, and the long nights talking until the dawn broke, in some cases.

“I grew up in Fyfe and my first city was Edinburgh, my second city was Oxford, and frankly, the rest of the world’s been a bit of a disappointment.”

Previous people who have received honours degrees from the university include Hilary Clinton, Sir Lenny Henry and Professor Dame Sally Davies.

 

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This story was written by Matthew Norman, he joined the team in 2022 as a Facebook community reporter.

Matthew covers Bicester and focuses on finding stories from diverse communities.

Get in touch with him by emailing: Matthew.norman@newsquest.co.uk

Follow him on Twitter: @OxMailMattN1