Five honorary degrees will recognize experts in fields ranging from astrophysics to creative writing at this year’s Commencement ceremony.
The College will honor Pulitzer prize winner and Columbia University history professor Eric Foner, astrophysicist and 1990 MacArthur “genius grant” winner Margaret Geller, entrepreneur David Kelley, screenwriter Shonda Rhimes ’91 and novelist and professor of creative writing at Ohio University Zakes Mda.
Foner, whose book “The Fiery Trail: Abraham Lincoln and American Slavery” won the 2011 Pulitzer for history, Bancroft, and Lincoln Prizes, said he was completely surprised by the offer of an honorary degree since he has not had much of a previous relationship with the College. Foner received an email from College President Phil Hanlon’s office, asking when he could speak with Hanlon.
“I had no idea what it would be about,” he said. “I thought it was about something in the history department.”
Because he did not have an established relationship with the College, the degree is more of an honor because it means it was given to him solely on the basis of his work, Foner said.
“It wasn’t like my friends were just awarding me something,” he said.
Kelley helped create a range of well-known technological symbols including the Apple mouse, and created the Hasso Plattner Institute of Design at Stanford. Because he doesn’t consider himself a “conventional academic,” Kelley was very honored to receive an honorary degree, he said.
He said he has long noted the high number of Dartmouth students who come to Stanford for graduate school, which sparked his interest in the College. He has noticed similarities between the College’s design program and Stanford’s, said.
Geller is known as a pioneer in the field of mapping galaxies. The second woman to receive a Ph.D. in physics from Princeton University, she now directs the Smithsonian Hectospec Lensing Survey, which maps the distribution of dark matter in the universe.
Geller received a MacArthur Foundation Fellowship in 1990 and several awards for her films, one of which is currently on display at the National Air and Space museum. In September, Geller will receive the German Astronomical Society’s Karl Schwarzschild medal for outstanding achievements of fundamental importance in astronomical research.
This honorary degree will be her sixth.
Mda, a South-African writer who began teaching in the U.S. in 2002, is best known for his writing, including his novel “The Heart of Redness” and his memoir “Sometimes There is a Void: Memoirs of an Outsider.” He is also one of the judges and the patron for the Etisalat Prize for literature, an annual prize for Pan-African writers.
Former Board of Trustees chair William Neukom ’64 was slated for recognition, but as he cannot attend the ceremony, he will not receive an honorary degree, saidDiana Lawrence, the secretary for the Dartmouth Alumni Council Honorary Degrees Committee.
Neukom is the founder and CEO of the World Justice Project and served as the Microsoft Corporation’s lead lawyer for more than 20 years. He was the chair of the College’s Board of Trustees from 2004 to 2007.
In May, Neukom’s $10 million donation helped create the College’s first faculty college cluster, which will focus on computational sciences. A $22 million donation helped create the Neukom Institute for Computational Sciences at the College.
Geller, Mda and Neukom could not be reached for comment by press time.
Lawrence wrote in an email that the process of determining who will be rewarded degrees is confidential.
The article has been changed to reflect the following correction:
Correction appended (June 7, 2014):
The original version of this story reported that Neukom would receive an honorary degree, but as he will not be on campus, he will not.
