Honorary degrees awarded at Encaenia 2018

The Raging Bull and Taxi Driver director Mr Scorsese and classics professor and TV presenter Dame Mary Beard received their degrees in the Sheldonian Theatre, along with ballet choreographer Sir Matthew Bourne, ex-Supreme Court head Lord David Neuberger, social studies expert Professor Helga Nowotny, leading Harvard scholar Professor Robert Putnam and distinguished economist Lord Nicholas Stern. The sun was shining as the honorands processed past crowds of onlookers to receive their honorary degrees in the Sheldonian Theatre. Before the ceremony, Dame Mary spoke to the BBC and Oxford Mail outside the Sheldonian. She said: "I am particularly delighted [to receive an honorary degree] because of this parody of a rivalry that exists between Oxford and Cambridge. But in fact, my daughter is here and many of my best friends are classicists at Oxford." Professor Roger Goodman, Chair of the Committee on Honorary Degrees, said: "Every year, the University awards honorary degrees to people who have made outstanding contributions in their chosen fields. This year's nominees are all being recognised for a distinguished body of work and cover a fascinating range of areas of achievement." The honorands' biographies are as follows: Dame Mary Beard is Professor of Classics at Cambridge University and a Fellow of Newnham College. She is Classics editor of the Times Literary Supplement.