THERE are mature students and then there is Brian Lowe, who has received a Cambridge MA at the age of 102.

    When he enrolled in 1931, legendary physicist Ernest Rutherford was overseeing pioneering experiments at the Cavendish Laboratory and student newspaper Varsity rolled off the presses for the first time.

    But now, 85 years later, the law graduate can officially call himself a Master of Arts.

    Lowe said, “I had been thinking of applying to be awarded an MA for some years, but never got round to it. However, now that I am 102, I would very much appreciate having an MA to complete my CV.”

    All Cambridge graduates are able to apply for an MA once they have held a BA for two years, with the ceremonial title granting them membership of the University Senate and the right to vote in chancellor elections.

    Lowe read law at Trinity College, living for two years at its Great Court, and fondly recalls his student days in the city.

    He said, “I visited these rooms the last time I was in Cambridge in 1989 when it was occupied by two female students, but seemed much the same, except that there was a wash basin where the coal had been kept, a great improvement.”

    He represented the university at hockey and learnt to fly at the university air squadron, before joining a firm of London solicitors in 1937.(SD-Agencies)