Walter Sawyer admitted to the honorary degree of Master of Arts

Sawyer commented: "I was surprised and delighted that the University conferred an honorary degree on me, the real honour has been to serve the University maintaining, designing, and developing its gardens and grounds as Superintendent of the University Parks for 26 years; and to have gently influenced how our green spaces look and to develop the University's plants collections."

Sawyer has been a Supernumerary Fellow at Wolfson College since 2001. He started work with the Parks Department in Newcastle-upon-Tyne in 1972. Walter studied horticulture at Askham Bryan College (now part of Leeds University). He first came to Oxford as part of a course in 1980, to work at the Botanic Gardens. In 1982, he became the Wolfson College's Head Gardener and stayed until 1991, when he was appointed Superintendent of the University Parks, where he remained until 2017.