Every Commencement, the College grants six or seven honorary degrees to give recognition to individuals who have distinguished themselves not only in their careers but who also serve as an inspiration for the rest of humanity.
Selecting the recipients is a three-step process that begins with the council receiving nominations, according to Earth Sciences Professor Charles Drake, who chairs the Council of Honorary Degrees. Anyone can nominate a candidate.
The council then reviews the biographies of the nominees and recommends a list to the Trustees, who have the final say.
An honorary degree "is awarded by an institution to an individual for distinguished service to society or sometimes to the institution itself," Drake said.
The purpose of giving an honorary degree is to provide a model to undergraduate students, said History Department Chair Gene Garthwaite, who is a council member.
Garthwaite said choosing degree candidates involves many factors including whether a nominee is available for Commencement and whether a candidate is a potential keynote speaker.
Garthwaite said many recent recipients are "unsung heroes."
Here's a look at this year's recipients with the exception of Bill Moyers who is featured on page three.
Carlos Fuentes
Carlos Fuentes is an acclaimed Mexican novelist, short story writer, playwright, literary critic, journalist, diplomat and educator.
A resident of Mexico City and London, Fuentes is no newcomer to the campus. He taught humanities and creative writing as a Montgomery Fellow in 1981 and 1986.
Fuentes wrote "The Death of Artemio Cruz," "Terra Nostra," "Burnt Water," "Christopher Unborn" and "The Old Gringo," which was made into a movie in 1989.
He will receive an honorary Doctor of Letters degree.
Sophia Bracy Harris
Sophia Bracy Harris will receive an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree in recognition of her leadership in child care.
In 1972, Harris founded the Federation of Child-Care Centers of Alabama (FOCAL) and has been its executive director for the past 16 years. FOCAL currently serves as a model for child-care agencies nationwide. It has provided more than 10,000 hours of instruction in early childhood care and education and raised more than $20 million in funding for child-care centers.
In 1990, Harris received the Gleitsman Award for People Who Make a Difference for her efforts in providing child-care for children of black families.
Seamus Heany
An author of 11 volumes of poetry, Seamus Heany is widely considered the best Irish poet since W.B. Yeats.
Critics recognize Heany as a poet who skillfully balances both public demands and individual appetites in his work. A native of tumultuous Northern Ireland, Heany addresses the harsh political situation in his homeland and also composes pieces such as "Field of Work," which fellow poet Donald Hall said "speaks of love with an astonishing and wholly captivating tenderness."
Heany, a professor of poetry at Oxford University and Harvard University, will also receive an honorary Doctor of Letters degree.
George B. Munroe '43
George B. Munroe '43 is an inspiration to Dartmouth scholar-athletes. Munroe graduated magna cum laude as a basketball All-American and financed his education at Harvard Law School by playing for the Boston Celtics. After getting his law degree, he studied at Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar and then began his legal career.
From 1951 to 1954 he served with the U.S. High Commissioner for Germany as a lawyer. He later practiced law in New York until joining the Phelps Dodge Corporation in 1958. He became the company's executive officer in 1969. He retired in 1987.
Munroe has maintained close ties to the College, serving on the Board of Trustees from 1977 to 1991. He is currently a member of the executive committee of the Will to Excel capital campaign and has held various alumni and fund-raising positions over the past 40 years.
Munroe will receive an honorary Doctor of Laws degree.
Frank H.T. Rhodes
Cornell University President Frank H.T. Rhodes boasts an impressive career in geology and education. Rhodes, who is also a professor of geology, has written more than 70 major scientific articles, 60 articles on education and five books.
Rhodes studied at the University of Illinois as a Fulbright Scholar and as a Post Doctoral Fellow. In 1987, President Ronald Reagan appointed him to the National Science Board and in 1989, President George Bush appointed him to the Education Policy Advisory Committee.
One year ago, Rhodes became one of 15 members of the Special Commission on the Future of the National Science Foundation. He also serves on the Board of Trustees of the Mellon Foundation and the Board of Directors for the General Electric Company.
Rhodes will receive an honorary Doctor of Laws degree.
Dr. Maxine Singer
Dr. Maxine Singer is a leading biochemist in the field of genetics. Singer, who helped create the agenda for DNA research, worked with the National Institutes of Health (NIH) from 1958 to 1974 and is currently the president of the Carnegie Institute in Washington, D.C. She is the only woman to achieve emeritus recognition at NIH.
Singer has served on the Yale panel which investigated South African investments and on an advisory board to the Pope.
Dr. Singer will receive an honorary Doctor of Science degree.
