Honorary Degrees at Commencement

Eight honorary degrees were conferred by the University at Commencement last June. President Eliot received the Honorary M.D., which is a unique distinction, and also the LL.D. The degrees were conferred by President Lowell in the following words:

"In exercise of authority given me by the two governing boards I now create

Honorary Masters of Arts

"Wilfred Thomason Grenfell, true Christian physician; a hero in all eyes but his own; the sight of whose ship from afar brings hope and joy to suffering men;

"Thomas Franklin Waters, learned antiquarian; careful and thorough investigator; master of the history of his region;

Honorary Doctor of Science

"Samuel Franklin Emmons, geologist; eminent in science; forty years in the service of the nation, skilfully exploring the mineral resources of the continent;

Doctors of Divinity

"Charles Lothrop Noyes, paster and preacher; who in these latter days has helped to bring nearer together those whom the blindness of man had put asunder;

"Francis Greenwood Peabody, preacher and teacher; under whose guiding hand the ministrations of religion at Harvard have been opened to a broad Christian fellowship unknown before;

Doctor of Letters

"Eugen Kuehnemann, scholar, philosopher, critic; welcome teacher from abroad, versed in the culture of a land of learning;

Honorary Doctor of Medicine

"It has not been our custom to confer the degree of Doctor of Medicine, honoris causa; but an exception is fitting in the case of one who in the opinion of professors of medicine, has accomplished more for the progress of medical education in this country than any other living man,

"CHARLES WILLIAM ELIOT.

"Not in its buildings alone, but also in the instruction and research within its walls, he found our medical school brick and left it marble;

Doctors of Laws

"Nathan Matthews, lawyer, public administrator, genuine reformer; leader of a band of earnest men whose tireless zeal searched the causes of misgovernment until a remedy was found;

"Charles William Eliot, teacher, administrator, orator, prophet; forty years the leader and guide of Harvard, and in the single-minded elevation of his character a model to her sons; the father of the present American university, the brother of all teachers, and the friend of every lover of his country."