Vice-Chancellor’s Oration 2023

Professor Irene Tracey CBE FRS FMedSci has delivered her annual Oration to the University in the Sheldonian Theatre. Here is the full text of the speech: - Oxford Leading Together. New Beginnings: Autumn is my favourite season. With its perceived sombre tone, this is perhaps surprising for someone so incorrigibly positive. The heat of summer is over, there is a crisper feel to the air, the low-angled evening light sets the stone of our beautiful colleges and University buildings ablaze. Yet, as nature begins to rest, there is tangible excitement in the air as a different part of nature sets itself ready to grow, intellectually, with the planting of new ideas. This is why I love autumn.