What was Walter Alvarez wearing?

Factual Questions
1

This past week I attended my niece’s graduation from UC Berkeley, in the department of Earth and Planetary Studies, which comprises the specialties of geology, geophysics, geochemistry, planetary geology, atmospheric science, and environmental earth science.

One of the department’s most illustrious members is Walter Alvarez, son of Nobel-prize winning physicist Luis Alvarez, and a titanic figure in his own right (see: geomagnetism, K-T boundary, dinosaur extinction, Yucatan impact crater).

So the faculty enter in their academic regalia, and they mostly look the same: a black or blue gown, a stylized hood in the designated colors, and a velvet tam or mortarboard.

Prof. Alvarez, however, is wearing an iridescent blue-and-maybe-green thing that covered most of his chest, and a dome-shaped hat with three-inch-long fringe all around, in what I think was royal blue. I’m pretty sure they don’t wear that at Princeton.

I know he’s got a doctorate “Honoris Causa” from the University of Siena, Italy, but surely not that…

So…what was Walter wearing?

2

Was it this hat? Looks like it IS related to the Laurea ad Honoris Causa, although the article (scroll down to 3 2008) says he received it from the University of Oveido, Spain.

3

AHA! Yeah, that’s the hat, although the cape isn’t quite what I remember. His Wikipedia and EPS pages don’t list this latest honor, and I didn’t look at the news page at EPS.

Thanks!