Ian Morris, graduate of the Department of Classics, Ancient History and Archaeology, delivers the Honorary Graduand speech at this year's degree congregation.
Professor Ian Morris graduated from the University of Birmingham in 1981. Since 1995 he is Jean and Rebecca Willard Professor of Classics at Stanford University. His latest book, Why the West Rules - For Now: The Patterns of History, and What They Reveal about the Future (Farrar, Straus & Giroux 2010), was named as a 2010 book of the year by The Economist, as one of 100 Notable Books of 2011 by the New York Times, and as one one the best reads for 2011 by Nature, and has won three international book awards.