"Now I am 80," Mandela said. "I am encouragedto see so many people who have turned out. I amnot sure if you came here to see how a man of 80looks like."

Turning to more serious issues as he continuedhis speech, Mandela said Africa is striving tobecome a full participant in world affairs in thenext century but added that he realizes it cannotdo so without economic help from the world andincreased education for its people.

And Africa must also have the will to develop.He reminded his audience that the theories ofdemocracy that often preoccupy the citizens ofdeveloped countries are unimportant to those whohave to scrounge for food and rent money from dayto day.

"Where men and women and children go burdenedwith hunger, suffering from preventable diseases,languishing in ignorance and illiteracy, orfinding themselves bereft of decent shelter, talkof democracy and freedom that does not recognizethese material aspects can ring hollow and erodeconfidence exactly in these values which we seekto promote," Mandela said.

To improve the plight of the deprived, Mandelacalled for reform of the world economic systemthat he said, in light of the recent economiccrisis, has proven wanting.

He said leaders in the developing world musttake part in the "fundamental rethinking andreconceptualization" of the economy and that bothdeveloping and developed countries must worktogether "to shape a world order that answers tothe shared and common needs of all peoples and notjust the rich."

At the ceremony, three Harvard professors whostudy Africa, Henry Louis "Skip" Gates Jr.,Jeffrey D. Sachs '76 and Kwesi Botchwey, announceda new program from Harvard's Center forInternational Development (CID) to devote moretime to studying Africa and working with Africaninstitutions and scholars.

Gates, who is DuBois Professor of theHumanities, proposed that a new fellowship forSouth African scholars to study at Harvard benamed after Mandela.

"You have been in both words and deeds a beaconof temperance and reason," Gates said. "Thank God,sir, you refused to die and refused to let an evilregime kill your commitment to economic justice."

Mandela endorsed the new program--and gaveGates the nod to use his name for the fellowship.

"I am confident that it will also strengthenand build your own understanding of Africanreality and capacity to analyze that reality aspart of our shared world," Mandela said.

Tributes to Greatness

Many of the administrators and professorsgathered on the stage with Mandela in theiracademic robes paid tribute to the man and hislegacy.

Opera singer Jessye Norman sang "AmazingGrace."

Gates told of waking his daughters early on themorning of Mandela's release from prison to watch"your nobility, your presence, your straight back,unbowed head...as regal as any king."