The University Council has now submitted to the Regent House the names of eight distinguished persons, nominated for admission to Honorary Doctorates at a Congregation in June.
Each year the University celebrates the outstanding achievements of individuals both in the United Kingdom and around the world. The nominees and the degrees for which they have been nominated are:
Doctor of Letters - Professor Henry Louis Gates Jr (Clare College), literary scholar, cultural critic, journalist and filmmaker. Alphonse Fletcher University Professor and Director of the Hutchins Center for African and African American Research, Harvard University.
Doctor of Science - Professor Edith Heard (Emmanuel College), epigeneticist and developmental biologist. Professor of Epigenetics and Cellular Memory, Collège de France, and Director General of the European Molecular Biology Laboratory.
Doctor of Science - Professor Sir Roger Penrose (St John's College), mathematical physicist and philosopher of science. Emeritus Rouse Ball Professor of Mathematics, University of Oxford.
Doctor of Science - Professor Elizabeth Robertson (Darwin College), developmental biologist. Professor of Developmental Biology and Wellcome Trust Principal Research Fellow, University of Oxford.
Doctor of Letters - Professor Sir Simon Schama (Christ's College), historian and art historian. Professor of Art History and History, Columbia University.
Doctor of Letters - Ali Smith (Newnham College, Clare Hall, Lucy Cavendish College and Trinity College), writer, playwright and academic
Doctor of Science - Professor Sir John Walker (Sidney Sussex College), biochemist, molecular biologist and Nobel Laureate in chemistry. Emeritus Honorary Professor of Molecular Bioenergetics and Emeritus Director of the MRC Mitochondrial Biology Unit, the School of Clinical Medicine.
Doctor of Music - Ms Judith Weir (King's College and Trinity College), composer. Master of the The Queen's Music and President of the Royal Society of Musicians.
The Congregation for Honorary Degrees is due to take place on Wednesday 17 June.
Staff (serving and retired) of both the University and the Colleges and students or alumni of the University may apply for tickets to attend the Honorary Degree Congregation. Details will be published in the Reporter on Wednesday, 22 April.