Zariski said yesterday. "I'm certainly very honored and very happy--no question about that." He added that the honorary degree's citation "apparently noted my success in having very good students, who took up their work with me and became very well known later."

Among his students, Zariski said, were David B. Mumford '57, who currently holds Zariski's former chair in mathematics, and Heisuke Hironake. Byerly Professor of Mathematics, Zariski added that Mumford formally recommended him for an honorary degree.

Zariski, a specialist in algebraic geometry, was born in Russia, received his doctorate at the University of Rome, and came to the United States in 1927, "I feel a little bit uneasy talking about my achievements," he said, "but I never took mediocre students. On the whole, I had about 15 students who are now full professors of mathematics."

Speculation increased yesterday about the identities of the other recipients of honorary degrees--traditionally kept secret until the degrees are actually presented at Commencement. Sources said yesterday that one recipient is a scientist from the Class of '56, Kenneth G. Wilson '56, a professor of physics at Cornell University, refused last night to deny he was on the recipients list, saying "I'd be pretty embarassed if I denied it and then they called me up tomorrow and told me I'm going to get an honorary."

Thomas J. Watson Jr., this years Commencement speaker, received an honorary degree from Harvard in 1965.

Nancy F. Bauer and James G. Hershberg assisted in the reporting of this story