Acta

Congregation of the Regent House on 24 June 2026: Honorary Degrees

A Congregation of the Regent House was held in the Chapel of Queens’ College at 2.45 p.m., at which the Chancellor was present. Before the Congregation, a procession formed and walked from the President’s Garden through Walnut Tree Court to the Chapel. The train of the Chancellor’s robe was carried by Mr Ben Pattison, of Queens’ College. Music was performed by the Cambridge University Brass Ensemble, directed by Mr Christopher Lawrence, of Newnham College, by Mr Edward Clynes of Trinity College and by members of the choirs of Peterhouse and of Selwyn College. The programme of music was arranged by the University Organist, Ms Sarah MacDonald, Director of Music of Selwyn College, and the choirs were directed by Ms MacDonald and by Dr Simon Jackson, Director of Music of Peterhouse. The bells of the University Church were rung by members of the Cambridge University Guild of Change Ringers and of the Society of Cambridge Youths, directed by Dr Claire Barlow, of Newnham College, deputy for Dr Frank King, of Churchill College, the University Bellringer.

The following titular degrees were conferred by the Chancellor:

The Orator delivered the following speeches when presenting the honorary graduands to the Chancellor:

AGMEN ducit mulier iuris prudentissima. apud nos primum linguarum studio adhibita ac postea ad scientiam legis adducta — quid enim in iurisconsulto maioris habendum quam loquendi et ratiocinandi acumen? — cum aduocati pallam sericam assumpsisset magnum sibi nomen in litibus negotiatorum componendis comparauit. deinde in iudicum subsellia arcessita amplis honoribus utebatur, quippe quae causis ad artes utiliores pertinentibus quaerendis prima praeposita esset femina, quae conuentibus in mediis comitatibus actis esset praefecta, quae inter appellationum praetores esset adscripta; summi iam atque antiquissimi iusticiarii muneris monumenta si euolueritis, magistri, hominum grauissimorum xcvii alia nomina inscripta uidebitis, sed nullam mulierem prius inuenietis quam hospitem hanc nostram praeclaram.

hodie congregati sumus non solum ad res gestas maxima laude dignas honestandas, sed etiam ut qui eosdem mores et uirtutes cogitandi agendique praecipue coluerunt ad quos omnia consilia et facta alumnos nostros relaturos esse speramus rite celebrentur. quas quidem uirtutes nullum est dubium quin haec mulier praestet, quae uoce et uita ipsa haec praecepta profitetur: si quid in qualibet re ambigatur, ratione potius quam ui componendum, certa lingua et iura et officia ita describenda ut in utramque partem res disputetur, iudicium tandem summa cura aequitate humanitate plane atque aperte exercendum. haec enim societatis, haec libertatis fundamenta quae stare uix possunt nisi iudicia administrant iudices liberi incorrupti timore soluti. quos cum rerum inopia laborare, litium copia reprimi, contionatorum etiam reprehensione oppugnari uideamus, ei atque consociis gratias agere debemus qui Iustitiam sedulo colunt et tuentur.

dignissime domine, domine Cancellarie, et tota academia, praesento uobis egregiam hanc mulierem admodum honorabilem, excellentissimi ordinis Imperi Britannici dominam commendatricem, regiae maiestatis intimo concilio adscriptam, Magistram in Artibus, Collegi Sanctae et Indiuiduae Trinitatis honoris causa sociam adscitam, Collegi Darwiniani uisitatricem, Summam totius Angliae Valesiaeque Iusticiariam, iurisconsultam et iudicem,

SUE baronissam CARR de WALTON IN COLLE,

ut honoris causa habeat titulum gradus Doctoris in Iure.

FIRST we welcome a woman at the pinnacle of the legal profession. She studied languages before she turned to the law — and surely the most valuable quality in a lawyer is precision of language and thought. She was soon called to the Bar and took silk, and had gained a great reputation in the practice of commercial law before she began a distinguished judicial career: as the first woman to sit as a High Court Judge in the Technology and Construction Court, as a presiding judge of the Midland Circuit, and as a Lady Justice of Appeal. And now if you examine the historical records you will find that ninety-seven worthy and notable men have held the office of Lord Chief Justice; but you will find no Lady Chief Justice before her.

We are gathered today to honour not only those who have achieved great things but who are exemplars of those values of thought and deed which we hope our graduates will carry into their own professions. Our honorand’s life and career speak eloquently of those values: that disputes should be settled by reason rather than power, that rights and obligations should be articulated in language which can be tested, that justice must be done and seen to be done with fairness, with courtesy and with care. These are the foundations of civil society, but they cannot stand unless justice is administered by judges who are free of fear and favour. When we see the judiciary starved of resources, overcome by the volume of cases, and even attacked by politicians, we are thankful to our Lady Chief Justice and her colleagues who serve and protect our legal system with such care and diligence.

Distinguished Chancellor, members of the University, I present to you

SUE Baroness CARR of WALTON-ON-THE-HILL, d.b.e., p.c., m.a.,

Honorary Fellow of Trinity College,
Visitor of Darwin College,
Lady Chief Justice of England and Wales,
lawyer and judge,

that she may receive the title of the degree of Doctor of Law, honoris causa.

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Ο ΜΕΝ φιλόσοφος (ita enim apud Aristotelem scriptum uidemus) βούλεται περὶ φρόνησιν εἶναι καὶ τὴν θεωρίαν τὴν περὶ τὴν ἀλήθειαν, ὁ δὲ πολιτικὸς περὶ τὰς πράξεις τὰς καλάς.1 quas geminas uirtutes in hac nostra hospite mira quadam ratione coniunctas conspicimus. quae puella septem annos nata murum per urbem traiectum populumque diuisum uidit a rebus publicis prorsus abhorruit. ‘scientiae physicae potius,’ inquit, ‘me deuoui, in qua difficilius a ueritate deflectitur.’ neque isto muro tandem refracto cum populus ad infestum rei publicae statum euertendum concitatus esset — amor enim libertatis non diu moeniis reprimitur — a consuetudine discessit, sed ad balneas, ut mos erat, cum amicis lotum se contulit. sed tum primum innuentem ciuitatem liberam sensit. quid plura? citato gradu ad summos honores peruenit.

nemo qui fluctibus ciuilibus et aurae fauoris iactandum se committit perpetua tranquillitate fruitur: quis enim in omnibus rebus hominibus omnibus potest placere? sed inter maximas rei pecuniariae tempestates, coram inaudita hominum uim bellumque refugientium copia, in extremo publicae salutis ignotaeque pestilentiae discrimine, ratione et re ipsa docta summa diligentia cursum saluum direxit. sunt qui firmiore manu, sunt qui liberiore clauum teneri debuisse querantur. quanta tamen gratia, quanta uoluntate apud populum floruerit uos ipsi iudicare potestis, magistri, quae cum principatum annos xvi tenuisset mater patriae nuncupatur, quanto honore foris utatur quae liberarum gentium cancellariam uocabatur. et sic uolo uobis persuadere: cum omnia hoc tempore bello flagrare uideamus, temere nos ei hortanti non parere ut istius muri memoria moti ad iniuriam et seruitutem debellandam eamus et omnia claustra quae oppida, quae ciuitates, quae hominem ab homine diffindant totis uiribus reuellere atque refrangere nitamur.

dignissime domine, domine Cancellarie, et tota academia, praesento uobis egregiam hanc mulierem regendae rei publicae scientissimam, Regiae Societatis nomismate Carolino donatam, rei publicae Germanorum foederatae olim Cancellariam,

ANGELA MERKEL,

ut honoris causa habeat titulum gradus Doctoris in Iure.

THE NATURAL SCIENTIST — so Aristotle tells us — is concerned with the contemplation and discovery of truth, the politician with the nobility of action. Both of these natures we see wonderfully combined in our next honorand. She was seven years old when the Berlin Wall divided a city and a nation, and this put her off politics completely. ‘I chose to pursue a career in physics,’ she says, ‘because there the truth isn’t so easily bent.’ Not even as the wall fell and the people rose up to topple the unjust regime — for the hunger for freedom cannot be repressed by walls for long — not even then did she change her routine: she went to the sauna with her friends, as was her custom. But then she felt the first call of politics, and soon she had ascended to the highest honours.

No one who commits themselves to the turbulent sea of politics and the winds of public approval can expect perpetual tranquillity. She held the rudder of the ship of state during a worldwide financial crisis, amid unprecedented numbers of people fleeing from violence and war, and confronted by a global pandemic; but guided by reason and pragmatism she steered a safe course through those troubled waters. Some will say the hand on the tiller was too strict, others not strict enough; for who can please all people in all things? But you may judge for yourselves in what favour and affection she was held at home from her having occupied the highest office for sixteen years and being hailed as mater patriae; and what respect she enjoys abroad by the fact that she has been called chancellor of the free world. And of this you may be sure: when we see the world once again ravaged by war, we would do well to heed her when she says, ‘The fall of the Berlin Wall serves for us all today as a call to fight oppression and to tear down all the walls that separate the world, that divide cities, regions and nations.’

Distinguished Chancellor, members of the University, I present to you

ANGELA MERKEL,

formerly Federal Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany,
King Charles II Medallist of the Royal Society,
politician and leader,

that she may receive the title of the degree of Doctor of Law, honoris causa.

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LEGVM ac libertatis uindex nunc adstat, magistri, et iurum hominum rationis inter auctores grauissimos aestimandus. euersis caloris frigorisque modis insularum incolas fame incendiis aquarum eluuione in extremo capitis fortunaeque discrimine uersatos strenue defendit. dictaturam gerentibus in ius tandem uocatis ne summum quidem reipublicae locum immunitatem praebere respondet; ne causam defendat recusat; accusatoribus se adiungit: maiorem enim quam habet potentiam uir audax sibi arroget, si facinora impune commisisse uideatur.

neque in tribunali tantum et apud iudices nomen ac praemia eloquentiae sibi comparauit sed et in aliis libris et in quo iura et leges de quibus omnes fere inter gentes hodie conuenit unde et quare et quomodo ortae sint ab origine percontatus enarrat; neque arida et exsangui, ut alii, utitur lingua; sed eorum hominum uitas quorum alter scelera in ipsam humanitatem edita descripsit, alter uerbum nouum genocidium in sermonem induxit, cum re sua familiari summo colore illustrata ita contexit ut eius temporis non modo immanem audaciam et saeuitiam uerbis uix contentam uerum etiam spem uirtutem indomitam humanitatem diuina quadam claritate exhibeat. talia qui legit, cum a uiris potentioribus legem impune neglectam, iura hominum audacter obtrita, omnes etiam mores et instituta gentium temere labefactata uideat, haud potest facere quin uereatur ne terror iste ac pestis iterum adoriatur. ne tamen ad immaturam adducamur desperationem monet hic uir: uiam longam neque spem fractam. nam ut scripsit poeta, Δίκη δ’ ὑπὲρ Ὕβριος ἴσχει ἐς τέλος ἐξελθοῦσα.1

dignissime domine, domine Cancellarie, et tota academia, praesento uobis egregium hunc uirum inter consiliarios Domini Regis in lege peritos adscriptum, Magistrum in Artibus nec non Magistrum in Iure, Regiae Litterarum Societatis sodalem, Academiae Britannicae honoris causa socium adscriptum, Collegi Sanctae Catharinae Virginis olim socium adscitum, Collegio Iesu hospitis iure quondam socium adscriptum, Collegi Corporis Christi alumnum, Collegi Vniuersitatis apud Londinienses professorem, doctum uirum et scientiae legalis peritissimum, iurisconsultum et rerum scriptorem,

PHILIPPE SANDS,

ut honoris causa habeat titulum gradus Doctoris in Iure.

THERE stands before us a champion of laws and liberty who is rightly to be counted an expert on the law of human rights. He has taken up the case of those whose lives and livelihoods are threatened by climate collapse, by famine, by fire and by flood. To dictators who finally face justice he replies that even the highest office proffers no immunity; he refuses their defence and joins their prosecution. For when the criminal is let go unpunished, as the diarist Friedrich Reck once wrote, he is made to look more powerful than he is.

Nor only in court has he won renown and prizes of eloquence. Among many outstanding books we remember especially that in which he sets out the origins and theoretical underpinnings of the modern concepts of international law — not as an arid, academic tome; but the lives of the two men who between them defined the theory of crimes against humanity and introduced the word ‘genocide’ into our language he weaves together with his own family history, and with such vivid colour that we see played out as it were before us the unspeakable horror and inhumanity of those times, but also the hope, bravery and undaunted human spirit which prevailed. When we see the present impunity with which national and international laws are broken and set at nought, with which human rights are trampled and the whole order of things is undermined, we cannot help but fear that the same dark shadow is rising again. Our honorand urges us not to give in to despair, however: ‘It’s a long game,’ he says, and we must have faith, as wise Hesiod once wrote, that Justice will beat Outrage when she comes at length to the end of the race.

Distinguished Chancellor, members of the University, I present to you

PHILIPPE SANDS, k.c., m.a., ll.m., f.r.s.l., (hon.) f.b.a.,

formerly Research Fellow of St Catharine’s College,
sometime Visiting Fellow of Jesus College,
member of Corpus Christi College,
Professor of Law, University College London,
legal scholar, advocate and writer,

that he may receive the title of the degree of Doctor of Law, honoris causa.

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ADDVCO iam uirum qui arti medicinae maxima produxit bona. eo enim tempore cum apud nos studia incepit nulla ante partum erat uitiorum geneticorum exploratio nisi perforato uentre nec sine iniuriae periculo uteri uillorum fragmenta excerpta uel haustum liquorem inspiciendo. num digito tantum acu puncto e sanguinis gutta hos infantium morbos detegere posset scire uolebat. apud Oxonienses acidi nuclearii catenas iterum iterumque calefactas amplificare doctus, in materno sanguine inuenit — mirabile dictu — cellulas masculino quodam chromatosomate praeditas e fetu eiectas. purpurea tum doctoris palla accepta fila genetiua fetus propria non in cellulis stipata sed in matris uenis lympha libere mixta repperit. ‘haud aliter stupui,’ inquit, ‘ac si raedae motorem in alio loco inuenissem quam in ploxemo suo positum.’ neque duplices modo atque contortae acidi nuclearii catenae inuentae sunt sed etiam simpliciora stamina quae quid in crescenti corpore se exprimat, quid repressum lateat ingenium ostendere poterant. quibus noua iam legendi facultate inspectis et ad usum medicinalem conuersis, cum alia uitia genetiua tum quae syndroma ex addito tertio chromatosomatis uicensimi primi apographo exoritur adempto omni errore deprehenduntur. sunt qui tanti momenti rebus contenti otio cum dignitate uelint frui: hic uir tamen is est qui in una re diuitissimam uideat fontem: rationem enim e re obstetricia ortam magno fore usui et in tumoribus maturius detegendis, diligentius obseruandis, efficacius sanandis. nullum igitur est dubium, magistri, quin artem medicinalem non modo potentiorem sed humaniorem reddiderit. potentiorem dico quia res eximia claritate uisas melius intellegit medicus, et humaniorem quod minus inducit iniuriam.

dignissime domine, domine Cancellarie, et tota academia, praesento uobis egregium hunc uirum, Magistrum in Artibus, Regii Collegi Medicorum, Regii Collegi Pathologorum, Regiae Societatis sodalem, Collegi Emmanuelis honoris causa socium adscitum, Vniueristatis Sinensis apud Siamkiamenses procancellarium, praesidem, medicinae professorem, medicum biologiae molecularis scientissimum,

YUK MING DENNIS LO,

ut honoris causa habeat titulum gradus Doctoris in Scientiis Medicinalibus.

I PRESENT to you now a man who has brought great advances to medical science. When he began his studies here in Cambridge, it was impossible to diagnose genetic conditions in the unborn foetus without the invasive and risk-laden removal of samples of villi or of amniotic fluid from the womb. He wondered whether he might detect such things with a simple blood test. At Oxford he learned the technique of amplifying DNA by repeated heating, and he discovered the presence in the mother’s blood of cells containing the male sex chromosome, which could only have come from the foetus. Having gained his Doctorate he discovered something more remarkable — foetal genetic material not contained in cells but mixed freely in the mother’s plasma. ‘It was like finding your car’s engine,’ he says, ‘somewhere other than under the bonnet.’ Nor were only the helical strands of DNA found, but also the single filaments of RNA, which could show which genes would be expressed in the developing foetus and which would remain latent. By extracting this material and examining it with the new technology of genetic sequencing he was able to create safe and reliable blood tests for a range of genetic conditions including Down Syndrome. There are some who would be content with such discoveries, but our honorand is of a rarer vision who can see in one single thing a rich source of applications. A procedure developed for obstetrics, he realised, could be used in the earlier detection, closer monitoring and more effective treatment of cancer. There is no doubt that this man’s discoveries have made medicine both more powerful and more humane, in giving to the clinician more reliable information without the risk of harm.

Distinguished Chancellor, members of the University, I present to you

YUK MING DENNIS LO, m.a., f.r.c.p., f.r.c.path., f.r.s.,

Honorary Fellow of Emmanuel College,
Vice-Chancellor, President and Li Ka Shing Professor of Medicine in the Chinese University of Hong Kong,
clinician and molecular biologist,

that he may receive the title of the degree of Doctor of Medical Science, honoris causa.

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AENEADVM genetrix, hominum diuomque uoluptas,
te sociam studeo scribendis uersibus esse
quos de ueridica iam conor pangere uate.
non Iouis ominibus summisso uortice seruit:
naturae dictis ac legibus haud uiolandis
paret et Atlantis seruat trepidantia membra.
illa tenet diram fornacem materiai,
illa notat nulla formidine mota procellam
corporum natam concursu primigenorum.
insidet inuiso celsis sub montibus antro
fulminis aduorsi qua crebris ictibu’ pulsum
emicat et grauidum diffindit fulmen inane,
ferrea uti resonet corporum semita partu.
illic aetherias choreas, saltantia quaerit
semina, nec tenui scriptas fulgore figuras
praeterit at lepidos tentat disCERNere motus.
en iam particulis collisis ui furiosa,
haud mora, gignuntur corpuscula parua uigoris
et numen refugum, momenti temporis instar,
conspicitur sed mox periturum conditur, ex quo
fit grauitatis fons, oriuntur pondera rebus,
ne leuitatem habeant, qua fungebantur, eandem,
† haud secus ac patiens clitellis bos oneratur.†
quis potis est dignum pollenti pectore carmen
condere pro rerum maiestate hisque repertis?

dignissime domine, domine Cancellarie, et tota academia, praesento uobis egregiam hanc mulierem, Regiae Societati hospitis iure adscriptam, Coetui Europaeo Rei Nucleariae inuestigandae quondam praepositam,

FABIOLA GIANOTTI,

ut honoris causa habeat titulum gradus Doctoris in Scientiis.

MOTHER of Aeneas’ line, delight of men and gods,
Attend my song and lend prophetic fire;
For I would trace, through Nature’s dark abodes,
The seer who reads the lightning’s secret choir.

She bows not low when Jove’s loud omens break,
But heeds the changeless law that rules the world;
She marks the trembling tools that Atlas shakes,
And guards the forge whence protons stream unfurl’d.

Deep in the cave beneath the mountain’s crown,
Where flashing lances cleave the pregnant gloom,
The shining beam breaks matter’s essence down,
And makes the ringing iron circuit boom.

There seeks she out the airy dance of things,
Nor scorns the signs the sudden fire has traced;
She reads the subtle motions lightning brings,
And follows forms by no dull fear effaced.

Behold! The primal atoms smash and flare,
And from their clash new seeds of force take flight;
A godlike flicker skims the riven air,
Then vanishes at once from mortal sight.

From that first fount comes gravity’s stern might,
Which lends to matter weight, to lightness loss;
As patient oxen, burdened in their plight,
Are bowed beneath the yokes they cannot toss.

Who then by power of mind may dare to frame
A poem equal to such truths reveal’d —
To match the majesty of Nature’s flame,
And sing the wonders in her depths conceal’d?

Distinguished Chancellor, members of the University, I present to you

FABIOLA GIANOTTI, for.mem.r.s.,

formerly Director-General of CERN,
particle physicist,

that she may receive the title of the degree of Doctor of Science, honoris causa.

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OPTIMAM quemque ciuitatem, si quid sibi arrogare uelit, ternos in libros historiam suam aiunt referre; quorum primo amplissimorum hominum uerba, alteri praestantissimas res gestas, tertio, qui fide sit dignissimus, artium et animi cultus monumenta mandata esse. in quo uolumine, si umquam de his insulis et de nostra aetate scriptum fuerit, huius uiri nomen iterum ac saepius lectum iri iudico quippe qui per decem haec lustra fabellis et in scaenam productis et in uitrum linteumque proiectis mores uitas ingenia nostra tamquam in speculo conspecta tanta humanitate quanta claritate exhibuerit. ‘fabulis capsula imprimendis,’ inquit, ‘parum in theatro mens et oculi moderatoris aptantur.’ ain tu, domine? qui neque genere neque aetatis consueta auctoritate constrictus summa facilitate in utrumque locum te confers. scurrae puellaeque ad Tamesis ripas exsultantes, quamuis Catones isti seueriores improbassent, inauditam theatro populari dicto fortunam, tibi coronam oliuariam attulerunt. dominam quandam caueae carissimam in mordacem liuidamque anum demutasti quae sudore fumoque foeda cum commentariola flagitiosa intueretur odium potius quam solitum amorem concitaret. Salopiensis ille poeta, uir eximiae latinitatis, inuento amore cruciatus et dimidia uitae parte amissa abiturus, misericordiam te duce nobis commouit. neque umbelliferam et aduenticiam tuam nutricem omitto, in omnibus fere partibus perfectam, laetas quae choreas tecta inter fumea ducit.

neque oratori sufficit anima qua huius uiri opera enumerentur, neque orationis spatium quo nomina histrionum scriptorum rectorum quos coluit, adiuuit, ad notitiam perduxit commemorentur. Alleluia igitur, laudemus eum in sono tubae, laudemus eum in tympano, qui praestantissimo ingenio suo non solum ad acuendam uerum etiam ad fouendam indolem alienam adhibito, aliorum magis fortuna quam sua prosperitate gaudet.

dignissime domine, domine Cancellarie, et tota academia, praesento uobis egregium hunc uirum inter homines praecipue honoratos adscriptum, excellentissimi ordinis Imperi Britannici commendatorem, Baccalaureum in Artibus, Regiae Litterarum Societatis sodalem, Collegi Diui Petri honoris causa socium adscitum, Popularis Theatri olim rectorem, spectaculorum theatricorum, cinematographicorum, cothurnatorum, teleuisificorum magistrum,

RICHARD EYRE,

ut honoris causa habeat titulum gradus Doctoris in Litteris.

ALL great nations, it has been said, write their autobiographies in three books, the first containing their deeds, the second their words, the third and most reliable, the record of their art and culture. In this third volume, if it ever comes to be written of these islands, you will find written again and again the name of this man. For five decades, on stage, in film and on television, he has held up an unrelenting and yet humane mirror to our national customs and character. Theatre is a poor training ground for the film and television director, he has said; and yet unconstrained by genre or the considerations of canon he moves with consummate ease between all three. When he brought Guys and Dolls to the South Bank the stuffier critics may have raised an eyebrow, but he won unheard-of success for the National Theatre, and an Olivier Award for himself. He transformed theatre’s darling dame into a bitter and resentful old woman, foul with sweat and smoke as she gloats over her Notes on a Scandal. He showed us the Shropshire bard of impeccable Latinity, tortured by The Invention of Love as he goes with half his life about his ways. Nor do I forget his Mary Poppins, practically perfect in every way as she dances among the chimney pots.

No orator could list either his achievements or the names of all those he has helped and nurtured. Allelujah! Let us praise him with Trumpets and Drums, who continues to employ his talents in the development and encouragement of so many actors, writers and directors, and rejoices more in the fortune of others than in his own success.

Distinguished Chancellor, members of the University, I present to you

RICHARD EYRE, kt, c.h., c.b.e., b.a., f.r.s.l.,

Honorary Fellow of Peterhouse,
formerly Artistic Director of the Royal National Theatre,
director in theatre, film, opera and television,

that he may receive the title of the degree of Doctor of Letters, honoris causa.

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ARTIBVS propositum aiunt esse quicquid notissimum sit ignotum reddere quo diutius in formis obscuratis spectantium oculi morentur. quod de hac muliere rectissime dici potest, ut opinor, quae seu aquae calidae utrem culcitamque lecti seu etiam domum totam nobis ostendit, idoli figuram gypseam gummeam resinaceam ahenam potius adumbrat quam certis lineis describit. saepius tamen non res ipsas sed quod continetur, quod circumdatur, quod subter conditur uanum solet fingere, ita ut ipso inani in solidum condensato nescioquid tenue et uolatile puncto quodam temporis congeletur. quicquid interioribus partibus euersis exhibetur nouum ac uelut prauum aspectum necessario sibi assumit. sed singula et perparuula menda quae inuisa latere solent cum remoto corpore ut in summo iam cortice capta uidemus — tegulas rimosas dico, luti maculam salisque grana, fuliginem quae focum, limum quae parietis quadrum, nisi omnis ademptus esset color, foedaret — haec omnia absentium hominum usum impolitum rudemque uitam diuina quadam luce collustrant. quam lucem in monumento bibliothecae simili clarissime elucere iudico, cuius libri nullo pegmate sustenti et ad exteros muros auersis sillybis dispositi quot hominum uitae deletae atque silentio compressae obliuionem recusent testificantur.

Philemon quidam in fabula perdita dicit

οὐκ ἔστιν οὔτε ζωγράφος, μὰ τοὺς θεούς,
οὔτ’ ἀνδριαντοποιός, ὅστις ἄν πλάσαι
κάλλος τοιοῦτον, οἷον ἀλήθει’ ἔχει.1

de aliis quidem artificibus, quippe qui talium rerum expers atque inscius sim, tacebo; hanc tamen mulierem affirmo in inanibus lacunisque rerum ueritatem quandam inuenisse, in qua forma ipsa et tamquam species pulcritudinis inesse uideatur.

dignissime domine, domine Cancellarie, et tota academia, praesento uobis egregiam hanc mulierem, excellentissimi ordinis Imperi Britannici dominam commendatricem, Collegi Sanctae Mariae Magdalenae honoris causa sociam adscitam, formae uacuique poetam,

RACHEL WHITEREAD,

ut honoris causa habeat titulum gradus Doctoris in Litteris.

THE purpose of art, it is often said, is to render the familiar unfamiliar, so as to make the observer’s gaze linger. This is certainly true of our next honorand. Whether it be a hot-water bottle, a mattress or a whole house, she blurs the sharp edges of things into ghostly replicas in plaster, rubber, resin and bronze. More often she casts not the object itself but the empty space within, around or beneath it, so that void itself is condensed into some solid but evanescent thing, a frozen moment of time. Whatever is displayed inside-out cannot help but take on a strange and unusual appearance; but when we see the tiny imperfections which we usually ignore — the crack in the tile, the speck of dirt, the grain of salt, the grime on the dado rail and the soot which stains the fireplace (or would stain it, if it were not bleached of all colour) — when we see these things captured on the outermost surface, they brilliantly illuminate the sometimes messy lives of the absent people who used them. Nowhere, I think, does this light shine more brightly than in her Holocaust Memorial, that nameless library of books arranged on the outside walls, supported by no shelves and with their spines turned inwards, which give eloquent testimony of the many lives lost and silenced, but which refuse to fall into oblivion.

The poet Philemon says in a lost play, ‘There is no artist or sculptor who can shape such beauty as there is in truth.’ About other artists I cannot speak; but our honorand finds Truth in the gaps between things, and in that Truth there is the very Form of Beauty.

Distinguished Chancellor, members of the University, I present to you

RACHEL WHITEREAD, d.b.e.,

Honorary Fellow of Magdalene College,
poet of form and void,

that she may receive the title of the degree of Doctor of Letters, honoris causa.

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QVI agmen iam claudit ab Oliuiero illo Auennionensi, cum modorum scriptore praestantissimo tum in instituendo docendoque prudentissimo, ad quem cum puer Lutetiam aduenisset se applicarat, optimo et splendidissimo ingenio adolescens et Amadei ipsius instar laudatus est. studiis tum apud nos inceptis mox famam annos praecurrentem inter ambulantium sollemnia iis modis sibi comparauit quorum

raucis in fidibus furiosae flaminis irae
exululant, ligno pulsato conspuit imbri
Iuppiter et totum conspergit grandine campum.
uexantur pecudes, sonus absonus omnia turbat.
continuo rabies sedatur uana. repente
fit tonitrus, subito lacerantur concaua caeli
fulmine quod, simulac tempestas aestuat omnis,
desinit: expellit nigros lux candida nimbos
tranquilla ac facies splendenti redditur orbi
dum rex altisonus semoto murmure mugit.

ut enim Apelles et Protogenes, artis pingendi peritissimi, colores, sic ille sonos disponit, ut symphonia pigmentorum pyxide facta eximiae pulchritudinis speciem contextis modis depictam oculis haud minus quam auribus conspexisse uideamur. quod si summam et sempiternam acceptam gloriam quaeritis, in theatrum cothurnatum eundum. ut enim in fabula modis nouissimis pristinae aetatis uoces repetenti infelicem illum dignitatis uindicem in scaenam induxerat, statim inter scriptores probissimos atque excellentissimos adscitus est.

dignissime domine, domine Cancellarie, et tota academia, praesento uobis egregium hunc uirum, equitem auratum, excellentissimi ordinis Imperi Britannici commendatorem, magistrum in artibus, baccalaureum in musica, Regiae Academiae Musicae nec non Regio Collegio Musicae honoris causa sodalem adscriptum, Collegi Regalis honoris causa socium adscitum, Collegi Regalis Londiniensis professorem Purcellianum, musicorum modorum scriptorem et mesochorum,

GEORGE BENJAMIN,

ut honoris causa habeat titulum gradus Doctoris in Musica.

BEFORE he came to Cambridge, our final honorand studied in Paris with Olivier Messiaen, that most distinguished composer and wisest of teachers, who described him as the most talented pupil he had ever come across and even compared him to Mozart. While an undergraduate at King’s College he achieved the signal honour of becoming the youngest composer to have a piece performed at the BBC Proms, his Ringed by the Flat Horizon, in which

In raucous strings the furious winds give voice,
And as the trembling wood is sounded, Jove
Sheds streaming rain and pelts the fields with hail.
A wild, discordant clamour sweeps the air,
’Till all the empty rage of storm subsides.
A sudden thunderclap divides the dome,
The hollow heavens riven by a flame
That falters once the heaving tempest dies.
Then silver light drives back the clouds of night,
Restoring calm to heaven’s shining face;
While far‑off Jove, with muted murmuring might,
Lets slip his wrath to drift through distant space.

For he uses sound as an Apelles or a Protogenes might use colour, and transforming the orchestra into his palette he weaves a picture of extraordinary beauty which we seem to perceive as much with our eyes as with our ears. But if you seek his crowning and immortal glory, it is in the opera house that you must look. For with the tale of the jealous protector of his own dignity Written on Skin, a work at once modern and medieval, he was immediately recognised as one of the masters of the canon.

Distinguished Chancellor, members of the University, I present to you

GEORGE BENJAMIN, kt, c.b.e, m.a., mus.b., (hon.) f.r.a.m., (hon.) f.r.c.m.,

Honorary Fellow of King’s College,
Henry Purcell Professor of Composition, King’s College London,
composer and conductor,

that he may receive the title of the degree of Doctor of Music, honoris causa.

R. B. SACHERS, Director of Governance and Compliance

END OF THE OFFICIAL PART OF THE ‘REPORTER’