Honoris Causa

Two women and seven men received honorary degrees at Harvard's 347th Commencement. In order of presentation, the honorands were:

Robert A. Dahl, Sterling professor of political science emeritus, Yale University. Doctor of laws: Masterful theorist and painstaking analyst, a sterling scholar forging new conceptions of politics, pluralism, and power.

Jean-Pierre Serre, mathematician, professor emeritus at the Collège de France, and for years a regular visitor to the Harvard department of mathematics, where he demonstrated mastery of le tennis de table. Doctor of science: Nimble of mind and hand, master of angles and curves, he has shaped the contours of mathematical thought with puissance and precision, elegance and élan.

Gertrude B. Elion, scientist emerita at Glaxo Wellcome, medical research professor of pharmacology and medicine at Duke University, adjunct professor of pharmacology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and 1988 Nobel laureate credited with the synthesis and co-development of two of the first successful drugs for the treatment of leukemia. Doctor of science: With science her tool, and compassion her motive force, she detects in the workings of virus and cell the wellsprings of hope and life.

Jaroslav Pelikan, Sterling professor of history emeritus, Yale University, an authority on the history of Christianity. Doctor of laws: Scholarly master-builder whose cathedrals of learning give form and meaning to the mystery by which faith abides and is renewed.

John Harold Johnson, publisher, chairman, and chief executive officer of Johnson Publishing Company Inc., creator of Ebony magazine, philanthropist, and holder of the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Doctor of laws: Visionary publisher and courageous entrepreneur, inspiring readers, lifting voices, and finding in every wall a door.

Samuel Hutchison Beer, Ph.D. '43, Eaton professor of the science of government emeritus, a scholar of British politics and American federalism, and creator of Soc Sci 2, "Western Thought and Institutions," the longest-running of Harvard's famous postwar General Education courses. Doctor of laws: Spirited citizen of the city of reason, legendary mentor to legions of students, bestriding the Atlantic to enlighten and enliven democracy's pursuit.

Seamus Justin Heaney, poet, 1995 Nobel laureate, former Boylston professor at Harvard and now Ralph Waldo Emerson poet-in-residence. Doctor of letters: Faithful to the claims of both art and conscience, his verse answers history's violence with "the music of what happens," and reminds us that "the end of art is peace."

Henry Rosovsky, JF '57, Ph.D. '59, Geyser University professor emeritus at Harvard, member of the Harvard Corporation, former dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, and leader of a review that gave rise to the Core Curriculum. Doctor of laws: Economist, educator, Harvard citizen to the core, whose life and work embody the idea and ideals of the university.

Mary Robinson, LL.M. '68, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and former president of the Republic of Ireland. Doctor of laws: Champion of human dignity, standard-bearer for social justice, affirming the worth of each woman and man to her nation and the world.