Oxford University has named nine distinguished individuals who will receive honorary degrees during the annual Encaenia ceremony on Wednesday, 25 June 2025.
This year’s recipients are: Dame Jacinda Ardern, Lord Melvyn Bragg, Clive Myrie, Professor Serhii Plokhii, Professor Timothy Snyder, Professor Colm Tóibín, Sir Mo Farah, Professor Robert S. Langer, and Professor Erwin Neher.
Ticket registration for the ceremony opens 6 May and will be available to University staff, Congregation members, students, alumni, retired faculty, and academic visitors. Unfortunately, the event will not be open to the general public.
Meet the 2025 honorands
Dame Jacinda Ardern
Former Prime Minister of New Zealand (2017–2023), Dame Jacinda Ardern was appointed a Dame Grand Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit in 2023 for her service to the state. Her leadership faced extraordinary events including the Christchurch mosque attacks, a major volcanic eruption, and the COVID-19 pandemic. A prominent advocate for online safety and empathetic leadership, Ardern is a Distinguished Fellow at Oxford’s Blavatnik School of Government and a trustee of the Earthshot Prize. Her memoir, A Different Kind of Power, is set for global release on 3 June.
Lord Melvyn Bragg
A celebrated broadcaster, author, and life peer, Lord Bragg has made a profound impact on the UK's cultural and literary landscape. From editing The South Bank Show to hosting the long-running BBC Radio 4 programme In Our Time, Bragg’s career spans decades. He holds fellowships from the Royal Society of Literature and the British Academy, and in 2010 received the BAFTA Fellowship for his contributions to broadcasting.
Clive Myrie
Award-winning journalist and BBC presenter Clive Myrie has reported from some of the world’s most volatile regions. He is currently one of the lead anchors for the BBC’s flagship news programmes and the host of Mastermind. Myrie also serves as Chancellor of the University of the Arts London and is a Pro Chancellor at the University of Bolton.
Professor Serhii Plokhii
A leading historian of Eastern Europe, Professor Plokhii holds the Mykhailo S. Hrushevs'kyi Chair at Harvard University and directs the university’s Ukrainian Research Institute. Originally from the former Soviet Union, Plokhii’s extensive scholarship has been recognized with multiple awards and has played a crucial role in shaping modern understanding of Ukrainian history.
Professor Timothy Snyder
An American historian known for his work on Central Europe, Ukraine, and authoritarianism, Professor Snyder is set to join the University of Toronto as the inaugural Chair in Modern European History. A widely published author and contributor to global debates on democracy and digital politics, he also serves as a fellow at the Institute for Human Sciences in Vienna.
Professor Colm Tóibín
Renowned Irish writer and academic, Professor Tóibín currently teaches at Columbia University. His novels, including Brooklyn, which was adapted into an Oscar-nominated film, have been shortlisted multiple times for the Booker Prize. He recently served as the Laureate for Irish Fiction and received the Bodley Medal in 2023.
Sir Mo Farah
One of Britain’s most decorated athletes, Sir Mo Farah is a four-time Olympic gold medallist and a world record-holder. Knighted in 2017, Farah has also been active in humanitarian causes, serving as an ambassador for Save the Children and supporting youth sports initiatives across the UK.
Professor Robert S. Langer
A pioneering figure in biomedical engineering, Professor Langer is a co-founder of Moderna and a leading expert in drug delivery and tissue engineering. With more than 1,600 publications and over 220 awards to his name, he holds positions in several national academies and serves as the David H. Koch Institute Professor at MIT.
Professor Erwin Neher
Nobel Prize-winning biophysicist Professor Neher is celebrated for his groundbreaking research on ion channels in cells. A member of several esteemed scientific bodies including the Royal Society and the German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina, he remains a towering figure in cell physiology. Photo by Sidharth Bhatia sidharthbhatia, Wikimedia commons.