Pulitzer Prize-winning author, presidential biographer and assistant to former President Lyndon Johnson Doris Kearns Goodwin will address the Class of 1998 at its Commencement this June.
Goodwin received the Pulitzer Prize in 1995 for "No Ordinary Time: Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt: The Home Front in World War II." Goodwin was the first Roosevelt biographer to research the logs of White House Ushers who detailed the President and first lady's activities, according to the April 1995 issue of Colby Magazine.
Other Goodwin bestsellers include, "Lyndon Johnson and the American Dream" and "The Fitzgeralds and the Kennedys, An American Saga."
Most recently, Goodwin authored "Wait Till Next Year," a memoir of her childhood woven around her loyalty to the Brooklyn Dodgers baseball team.
Goodwin's television appearances have included commentary on "Nightline," "Today," Good Morning America," "The MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour" and "CBS Morning News."
Goodwin also claims she was the first woman journalist to enter the Red Sox locker room.
Tuck Professor Paul Argenti, who chairs the Council on Honorary Degrees, said he was confident Goodwin's speech would be "interesting to students."
The committee, which is comprised of College faculty members, an administrator and a student, recommends potential honorary degree recipients and Commencement speakers to the College's Board of Trustees, who vote whether to accept the recommendations of the council and check the availability of any potential speakers.
Goodwin "is not only a good speaker, but someone who can speak to your generation," Argenti said.
He said Goodwin's selection as Commencement speaker is the outcome of a year-long process.
The announcement of Goodwin's selection came unusually early this year -- the identities of most Commencement speakers are not revealed until May.
"I'm surprised they announced it now," Argenti said.
Goodwin has given addresses at Wellesley College, Black Hills State University, Bates College, Douglass College, Colby College and Kansas State University, among other colleges and universities. She also received a honorary degree from Northeastern University.
A native of Rhode Island, Goodwin graduated magna cum laude from Colby College before earning a doctorate from Harvard University. She taught at Harvard University as a Professor of Government for 10 years.
The College will present Goodwin with an honorary doctor of letters degree and six others with honorary degrees during a ceremony at 10 a.m. the morning of Commencement.
Honorary degree recipient Julius Levonne Chambers is Chancellor of North Carolina Central University and a former director-counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund.
A second recipient, author and civil rights leader John Hope Franklin, has been honored with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor.
Awardee Millard Fuller founded Habitat for Humanity and is its current president.
Doctor of science degree recipient, pediatrician and virologist Samuel Katz '48, was the first to report he had succeeded in protecting children against measles with a live-attenuated virus vaccine.
Doctor of Science degree recipient, geneticist Mary-Claire King, has made strides in the battles against breast cancer and AIDS.
Doctor of Letters degree recipient, author Grace Paley, has written "The Little Disturbances of Man" and "Enormous Changes at the Last Minute," among other works, and has received numerous awards for her writings.
