Wesleyan University recently announced that it
will confer four honorary degrees during its 173rd commencement exercises on
Sunday, May 22 to the following recipients:
-
Amy Gutmann (Doctor of
Letters)
– Amy Gutmann, Wesleyan's commencement speaker, became president of the
University of Pennsylvania this year. Formerly, she was provost and
Laurence S. Rockefeller University Professor of Politics and the
University Center for Human Values at Princeton University. She was the
founding director of the Princeton University Center for Human Values, a
multi-disciplinary center that supports teaching, scholarship and public
discussion of ethics and human values.
-
Bill Belichick (Doctor of
Humane Letters)
– Bill Belichick earned his bachelor's degree in economics at Wesleyan in
1975. Also a Wesleyan parent, Belichick and his wife, Debby, have been
long-time advocates of and contributors to Wesleyan and community
charities. In 2002 Coach Belichick guided the underdog New England
Patriots to their first world championship, against tremendous odds. He
has since repeated that feat twice, most recently this year at Super Bowl
XXXIX. Belichick has earned a reputation for being one of football's elite
game strategists whose defensive game plans have consistently been
credited for defusing some of the NFL's most potent offenses.
-
Edward P. Jones (Doctor of
Humane Letters)
– Edward P. Jones was educated at Holy Cross College and the University of
Virginia. His first book, Lost in the City, was originally
published by William Morrow in 1992 and short-listed for the National Book
Award. A collection of fourteen short stories, Lost in the City
deals with African American working class and underclass experiences in
mid-20th century, inner-city Washington, D.C. Jones was named a National
Book Award finalist for a second time with the publication of his debut
novel, "The Known World," which subsequently won the 2004 Pulitzer Prize
for fiction.
-
William Barber (Doctor of
Letters)
– William Barber is the Andrews Professor of Economics
Emeritus at Wesleyan. Barber joined the Wesleyan faculty in 1957 after
receiving his doctor in philosophy degree from Oxford University. He is
recognized as an expert on the history of economic thought, on economists
as policy advisers, and on development economics. His next book, Volume 4
of "Perspectives on Applied Topics and Forward Trajectories," is expected
to be published in 2005.
Wesleyan will also bestow the Baldwin Medal,
the highest alumni honor presented by the University, to John F.
Woodhouse, '53, P'79, former president and CEO of Sysco Corporation,
named trustee emeritus following 15 years on Wesleyan's Board, and most
recently, chairman and leader of the successful $287M Wesleyan Capital
Campaign. David B. Jenkins, '53, P'83, former CEO and president of
Shaws Supermarkets, named trustee emeritus following 12 years on Wesleyan's
Board, chair of the Campaign for Liberal Learning and National Leadership
Gifts Chair for the Wesleyan Capital Campaign, will receive the Baldwin
Medal at Homecoming/Family Weekend this fall.
The Baldwin Medal pays tribute to the late Judge Raymond E. Baldwin of
Wesleyan's Class of 1916. Baldwin was the only man to have held the offices
of Connecticut governor, U.S. senator, and chief justice of the Connecticut
Supreme Court. |
