Someone attending last Friday’s Honors Convocation – a ceremony for Pitt honors students,… Someone attending last Friday’s Honors Convocation – a ceremony for Pitt honors students, staff and alumni- may have mistaken the decorated event for a knighting of a king’s royal subject.

Three costumed trumpeters blared a regal tune when Pitt faculty, dressed in scholarly, velvet robes, marched down the aisle during the opening processional.

Promptly following, as cameras continued to flash and click, Chancellor Mark Nordenberg conferred the honorary title of doctor of science upon Catherine DeAngelis, editor in chief of the Journal of the American Medical Association, Pitt alum and Board of Trustees member.

Before a satin, golden-yellow hood was placed around DeAngelis’ neck, Nordenberg briefly described her struggles of being unable to afford the costs of medical school and choosing to pursue a career in nursing instead.

Through a conversation with a chemistry professor, DeAngelis decided that medical school was an option. She then attended Pitt’s School of Medicine and became a physician.

In her response to the recognition, she recalled her time spent dissecting a human cadaver as her classmates would take turns reading from J.R.R. Tolkien’s “Lord of the Rings” to pass the hours.

Her speech, about the values of caring and the responsibilities of power, made reference to one of the series’ main characters, Samwise Gamgees, Frodo’s faithful companion.

Samwise, DeAngelis said, was the true hero of the book, as he did not care who received the credit and recognition of carrying the onerous ring, “Mr. Frodo, I can’t carry it – the ring – but I can carry you,” DeAngelis said, quoting from the “Lord of the Rings.”

The presentation of graduate and undergraduate academic honorees followed DeAngelis’ speech. Among the honorees were students that had distinguished themselves within the University and their communities.