Exonians honoured during Encaenia

Exeter students Charles Brendon (2003, PPE) and Tim Hele (2007, Chemistry) were honoured during the Encaenia ceremony this year. They were both asked to “do the most immodest thing for an Oxford student: to stand and receive [the congregation’s] applause” in recognition of their outstanding academic achievements.

The congregation included Nobel laureates, Knights and Dames, the heads of colleges, this year’s recipients of honorary degrees, and the Chancellor of the University of Oxford, Lord Patten. Mr Hele said after the ceremony, “it is an incredibly humbling experience to be congratulated by those who are much, much greater than I”.

Among the honorands were the President of Italy, Giorgio Napolitano, novelist and essayist Dr Marilynne Robinson, and record producer Sir George Martin.