As Yale's 300th graduation, this year's Commencement will be one for the record books.
Not only is it historically significant, but the event will bring to campus a number of notable individuals as both honorees and honored guests.
The former include the outstanding individuals who will be awarded honorary degrees by the University (and whose names are, by longstanding tradition, kept secret until the day of Commencement), while the latter include the accomplished individuals who will speak to graduating students during graduation weekend. Among these are:
* Former First Lady and current U.S. Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY), who has been invited by graduating students in Yale College to present the Senior Class Day address on Sunday, May 20;
* U.S. Surgeon General Dr. David Satcher, who will be the featured speaker at the Department of Epidemiology and Public Health's ceremony following the University-wide Commencement on Monday, May 21;
* Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Garry Wills, who will return to the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, where he earned a doctorate in classics in 1961, to present a talk on "University Memories" during the school's Commencement ceremony on May 20;
* Environmentalist, entrepreneur and author Paul Hawken, founder of the garden and catalogue retailer Smith & Hawken, among other enterprises, who will speak to graduating students at the School of Forestry & Environmental Studies on May 20; and
* Thomas Krens, director of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, will present the Commencement address at the Yale School of Management, where he earned his M.P.P. M. degree in 1984.
Brief profiles of these individuals follow:
Hillary Rodham Clinton. When she was elected to the U.S. Senate in November, Clinton became the only First Lady to be elected to the U.S. Senate and the only woman to be elected statewide in New York. Clinton has been an advocate for women and families for over 30 years, and has received international attention for her work promoting democracy, religious tolerance and human rights. A 1973 graduate of the Law School, Clinton chaired the Legal Services Corporation, the American Bar Association Committee on Women and the board of the Children's Defense Fund. She was named one of the National Law Journal's 100 Most Influential Lawyers in America in both 1988 and 1991. As First Lady, she chaired the Task Force on National Health Care and led the fight to pass the Children's Health Insurance Program. She is the author of the best-selling books: "It Takes a Village: And Other Lessons Children Teach Us," "Dear Socks, Dear Buddy: Letters to the First Pets" and "Invitation to the White House."
Dr. David Satcher. As the 16th U.S. surgeon general, Satcher has worked toward three main goals: establishing a balanced community health system that gives children the opportunity for a healthy start in life, promotes healthy lifestyles and offers improved the mental health services; maintaining a global approach to public health; and eliminating disparities in health. Satcher served simultaneously as surgeon general and assistant secretary of health from February of 1998 to January of 2001. He previously held the posts of director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and administrator of the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry from 1993-1998. Before joining the federal government, he was president of Meharry Medical College in Nashville, Tennessee from 1982 to 1993.
Garry Wills. Wills has gained acclaim as a cultural historian, whose books include penetrating studies of American figures from George Washington to Ronald Reagan. His 1993 book, "Lincoln at Gettysburg," won a Pulitzer Prize for its analysis of how the Gettysburg Address revolutionized the conception of modern America. A review in Newsweek called the book "a tribute not just to the genius of Lincoln, but also to the dicey power of language itself." Wills' other books include "Under God: Religion and American Politics," "Certain Trumpets, Witches and Jesuits," "John Wayne's America: The Politics of Celebrity," "Saint Augustine: A Penguin Life" and, most recently, "Papal Sins: Structures of a Deceit." Willis is the former Henry R. Luce Professor of American Culture and Public Policy at Northwestern University, where he still teaches. The Yale Graduate School gave him its highest honor, the Wilbur Cross Medal, in 1989.
Paul Hawken. Through his writings and his own example, Hawken has inspired chief executive officers worldwide to transform their internal corporate culture and business philosophy toward environmental restoration. In addition to Smith & Hawken, he helped found Metacode, a content management software company; Groxis, a knowledge mapping and interface provider; and several of the first natural food companies in the United States that relied solely on sustainable agricultural methods. His books include "The Next Economy," "Growing a Business" and "The Ecology of Commerce"; they have been published in 50 countries in 27 languages. "Growing a Business" became the basis of a 17-part PBS series exploring the challenges and pitfalls of starting and operating socially responsive companies. The Small Business Administration named him "Entrepreneur of the Year" in 1990, and in 1995 Utne magazine listed him in "One Hundred Visionaries Who Could Change Our Lives."
Thomas Krens. During his tenure as director of the Guggenheim Foundation, Krens has tackled major projects both at home and abroad. He oversaw the restoration and expansion of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, a project that included the refurbishment of the landmark Frank Lloyd Wright building, the construction of a 10-story tower gallery and office building, the addition of a new storage and technical services facility and the addition of the Guggenheim Museum SoHo. Under his leadership, the foundation opened the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao in Spain and the Deutsche Guggenheim Berlin (the latter with Deutsche Bank). In 2000, the foundation and the State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia, entered into a long-term collaboration designed to make each museum's respective collections accessible to broader audiences, among other goals.
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Commencement Information
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Architecture students rise to the task of making a home
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YUWO scholarships to further studies and enhance careers awarded to Yale affiliates
Commencement Concert to mark closing of Morse Recital Hall for renovations
Yale senior's essay on life in New Haven wins first Hegel Prize
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