Graduation 2017: Meet the Duke of Buccleuch, Doctor of Science, honoris causa

The Duke of Buccleuch received an honorary degree, in recognition of services to the promotion of graduate employment opportunities in rural land management.

Speaking ahead of the ceremony, he said: “I am absolutely thrilled; even more so considering the extraordinary range of things that are achieved at the university. It really is at the cutting edge on so many different fronts, which is wonderful

It’s great to know that Harper Adams University’s good influence is touching every corner of the country and sending out the most excellent graduates. We have had, through the Buccleuch family estate, fifty-plus placement students over the years. A number of our top people are Harper Adams graduates and what they are bringing to the business and what they will need to bring in the future is forward, visionary thinking about how we are going to do things freshly in the future. The countryside is going to need Harper Adams graduates very much.

Asked for his advice to the graduating class, the Duke said: “I think it did not ever set my sights high enough. Every now and again you need to give yourself space to think about your vision for the future. It is really important to think about how you can change things, how you can innovate. I left it too late to do the sort of things that I look back upon now, that could and should have been done. What those things are is for each graduate to work out, but they should never cease to innovate and to think afresh about how to do what they have grown used to doing.”