Eight individuals will receive honorary degrees alongside the Class of 2005 at the Commencement Ceremony on Sunday, June 12. Tom Brokaw, who will deliver the main address that day, will be among the recipients.
In awarding honorary degrees, the College seeks people who have made important contributions to the world through their lives and their work, and can serve as examples to the graduates, according to Roland Adams, vice president of public affairs. Their work can encompass a wide range of fields.
In addition to Brokaw, honorary degree recipients include research scientist Dr. Norman Borlaug, poet Lucille Clifton, scientist and president of the University of Michigan Mary Sue Coleman, president of Drew University Thomas Kean, biomedical scientist Dr. Mathilde Kim, distinguished businessman Gordon Russell '55, and activist and former Mayor of Atlanta The Honorable Andrew Young.
Brokaw, former anchor and managing editor of NBC Nightly News, will receive a Doctor of Humane Letters degree. Brokaw spent 21 years at NBC and plans to continue reporting for special and important events. He is a best-selling author of titles including "The Greatest Generation" and "A Long Way from Home."
Russell, who will also be awarded a Doctor of Human Letters degree, was General Partner at Sequoia Capital, a venture capital firm, for more than twenty years. He has vast experience in the nonprofit sector as a support of several institutions, such as Dartmouth's Native American Program and the Board of Overseers of Dartmouth Medical School.
Borlaug was a recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1970 for his work in increasing production of food crops to feed the hungry. He and his colleagues developed wheat varieties of broad disease resistance and a high yield potential that currently grow across the globe. He will receive a Doctor of Science degree.
A Pulitzer Prize finalist and a former Poet Laureate of the State of Maryland, Clifton writes both poetry and children's books. The current professor at St. Mary's College of Maryland will receive a Doctor of Letters degree.
University of Michigan President Mary Sue Coleman is also a professor in biological chemistry and chemistry at the school. As a result of the 2003 affirmative action lawsuit at Michigan, she has become a spokesperson on admissions and affirmative action. Coleman will be awarded a Doctor of Science degree.
Kean, who will receive a Doctor of Laws degree, is the current president of Drew University and plans to step down this summer after fifteen years in the position. The two-term Governor of New Jersey served as chair of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States, which investigated the attacks of September 11, 2001.
Also to receive a Doctor of Laws degree, the Honorable Andrew Young is chairman of Good Works Inter national, which consults corporations and governments in strategies to cultivate development in Africa and the Caribbean. Young has held several government positions over his career, including U.S. Representative, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, and a two term Mayor of Atlanta.
Krim is a biological scientist and in 2000 was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom for her efforts in the fight against HIV/AIDS. In 1983 she founded the AIDS Medical Foundation, which has since merged with a similar group to create the American Foundation for AIDS Research. She will receive a Doctor of Science degree.
In selecting honorary degree recipients, the Council on Honorary Degrees, which consists of three representatives from the College and one from each of the three professional schools, decides on viable candidates, along with the president of the senior class. The Council then advises the President and the Board of Trustees, who also accept nominations from the rest of the faculty, staff, and members of the senior class. The President and Board then agree on a list of nominees to whom they will extend invitations to receive an honorary degree. From this list they also choose the commencement speaker.
