Bulletin Autumn‧Winter 2004

great c u r i o s i ty a nd interest needs great d e t e r m i n a t i on to o v e r c ome f r u s t r a t i on a nd to p u s h the calculations f o r w a r d as far as they need to go. Those w h o k n ow Prof. M i r r l e es w e l l are struck, above all, b y his persistence. A s w e l l as h i s N o b e l P r i z e, James M i r r l e es has received h o n o r a ry degrees f r o m m a n y u n i v e r s i t i e s, i n c l u d i n g Wa r w i c k, Portsmouth, Brunel, Edinburgh, Oxford, Peking and Macau. I n 1997 he was k n i g h t ed b y Queen Elizabeth II. H e has been Fe l l ow a nd President of t he E c o n ome t r ic So c i e ty i n B r i t a i n ; a F e l l o w of t h e B r i t i s h A c a d e m y ; a n H o n o r a ry Fe l l ow of the Ro y al Society of Ed i n b u r g h; President of Royal Economic Society; President (Section F) of the British A s s o c i a t i on f o r t he A d v a n c e m e nt of Science; a F o r e i gn As s o c i a te of the US N a t i o n a l A c a d e my of S c i e n c e s; a n d P r e s i d e nt of t he E u r o p e an E c o n o m ic Association. Sir James has he ld visiting positions at m a n y i n s t i t u t i o n s: t he M I T Ce n t er f or I n t e r n a t i o n al Studies i n N e w D e l h i; the P a k i s t a n I n s t i t u t e of D e v e l o p m e n t Economics i n Karachi; at MI T, Berkeley and Yale. I n 1995 he returned to Cambridge as professor of political economy, a position he held u n t il 2003. Prof. Mirrlees developed an interest i n Ch i ne se e c o n om ic d e v e l o pme nt i n t he 1980s w h e n he w a s i n v o l v e d i n t he e s t ab l i s hment of the Chinese Ec o n om ic A s s o c i a t i on i n B r i t a i n. I n 2002 he a c c e p t ed a p p o i n t m e n t at T h e Ch i ne se U n i v e r s i ty of H o n g K o n g a s D i s t i n g u i s h e d P r o f e s s o r - a t - La r ge. I n t h i s r o le he is able to p r o v i d e l e a d e r s h ip i n the advancement of the U n i v e r s i t y, e n h a n c i ng t he U n i v e r s i t y 's l i n k s w i t h t he i n t e r n a t i o n al s c h o l a r ly c o mm u n i t y. H e has g i v en i m p o r t a nt lectures at the University, i n c l u d i ng the Special Lecture o n ‘ I n c en t i v es a nd the Un i v e r s i t i e s: the I mp a ct of Pe r f o r ma n ce Me a s u r eme n t ', w h i c h was d e l i v e r ed at the U n i v e r s i ty Presidents' G l o b al F o r um h e ld i n Ma r ch 2 0 0 4. H e is a l so a m e m b e r of t h e Ma n a g eme n t / N om i n a t i on Comm i t t ee of t h e S u n H u n g K a i P r o p e r t i es N o b e l Laureates D i s t i n g u i s h ed Lectures. Last m o n t h he h i m s e lf p a r t i c i p a t ed i n t he series, i n a s em i n ar a l o ng w i t h P r o f. M i c h a e l S p e n c e, N o b e l l a u r e a te i n economics 2001. Prof. Mirrlees' topic was ‘ A g e i n g a n d Pe n s i o ns i n t he Ch i n e se Economies'. M r . C h a i r m a n, i t is m y h o n o u r to present to y o u Prof. Sir James M i r r l ee s, No b el laureate and one of the fundamental e c o n om ic t h i n k e rs of o u r t i me, f or t he a w a r d of the degree of Do c t or of Social Science, honoris causa. by Prof. David Parker Creative inspiration in the life of thought, he believes, requires at least three things. The first is spending time in discussion with intelligent people, not only in your own field — people who can keep up with your thoughts and grasp the problem you are trying to solve The second thing needed is curiosity and interest — really wanting to know what other people are doing; really wanting to understand, at the deepest level, why things are so. The third is sheer p e r s i s t e n c e . . . . The 61st Congregation 31