Yale University President Richard C. Levin Awarded Honorary Degree from Oxford

President Richard C. Levin today received an honorary degree from Oxford University, where he studied 30 years ago before coming to Yale to earn his doctorate in economics.

Levin, along with Harvard University President Neil Rudenstine, received the Degree of Doctor of Civil Law from Oxford in recognition of his contribution to education and to acknowledge the long-standing links between Oxford and leading American universities.

At the degree ceremony at Oxford, Levin, who became president of Yale in 1993, was described as “an outstanding economist, a great academic leader, and a highly valued public adviser.”

After graduating from Stanford University in 1968, Levin went to Oxford’s Merton College to study philosophy and politics and earned a B. Litt. degree in 1971. After earning his doctorate at Yale in 1974, he joined the faculty and served as chairman of the economics department and dean of the Graduate School before becoming President.

Recent recipients of the Doctor of Civil Law degree have included President Bill Clinton, President Mary Robinson of Ireland and President Nelson Mandela of South Africa. Former Yale President Kingman Brewster received an honorary degree from Oxford in 1979.