Projo 7 to 7 News Blog

PROVIDENCE -- Music legend Aretha Franklin and seven other well-known academic, business and humanitarian leaders are to receive honorary degrees at Brown University's 241st commencement, on Sunday, May 24.

Brown University President Ruth J. Simmons will confer the degrees on a health advocate, an anthropologist, and an anti-poverty activist, among others.

Journalist Fareed Zakaria will deliver the 2009 baccalaureate address entitled "Living a Global Life," on Saturday, May 23, at the First Baptist Church in America.

Zakaria, author, columnist, CNN host and editor of Newsweek International, will receive an honorary doctor of laws degree. Born in Mumbai, India, Zakaria received his bachelor's degree from Yale University and his doctorate in political science from Harvard. He is a naturalized American citizen.

Grammy-award winning Aretha Franklin, often called "the Queen of Soul," will receive an honorary doctor of music degree. She was named the No. 1 female vocalist of all time by Rolling Stone magazine. Among Franklin's most famous recordings are "Respect," "A Natural Woman," and "Chain of Fools." She sang "My Country, 'tis of Thee," at the January inauguration of President Barack Obama. In 2005, Franklin received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor.

Jim Yong Kim, a 1982 Brown graduate who was recently elected as president of Dartmouth College, will receive an honorary doctor of medical science.

Kim, a doctor, researcher and medical anthropologist, oversaw international treatment and prevention for HIV/AIDS for the World Health Organization. He also specializes in tuberculosis. He helped to found Partners in Health, a nonprofit that supports health programs in developing countries. He received his medical degree from Harvard and received a MacArthur Foundation "Genius" Fellowship in 2003. Time magazine named him one of the world's most influential people in 2006.

The five other honorary degree recipients are:

Richard C. Barker, a 1957 Brown graduate and trustee, will receive an honorary doctor of humane letters. A formal Naval aviation officer, Barker served as vice-chairman of Capital Group International Inc. and chairman of both Capital International Ltd. and Capital Guardian Trust Company, helping to manage the Capital Group's $300-million portfolio.

A trustee emeritus at Brown, Barker has served on several other boards, including the San Francisco Ballet, the California Film Institute, Youth Tennis Advantage and the Naval War College Foundation.

Mary Elmendorf, a peace activist and anthropologist best known for her studies of Mayan women in Mexico, will receive an honorary doctor of humane letters.

Elmendorf has focused on quality of life issues such as improving drinking water and sanitation, human rights and access to birth control. She was appointed to the Ford Foundation's first task force on women in the 1970s and was the first anthropologist hired at the World Bank.

Jerry Fishman, an engineer and businessman who has held various management positions at Analog Devices in Norwood, Mass., will receive an honorary doctor of science.

A board member of several companies, Fishman is a member of the advisory board of the Achtmeyer Center at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College and is a trustee of the Lahey Clinic. At Brown, Fishman has supported projects in the Division of Engineering, including the 'Studio Lab' and the laboratory for engineering man/machine systems.

Jessie Gruman, author and health advocate, will receive an honorary doctor of humane letters. Gruman is president of the Center for Advancing Health, a Washington D.C.-based policy institute she founded in 1992, that focuses on improving the quality of life and eliminating health disparities.

David Saltzman, a 1984 Brown University graduate and anti-poverty advocate, will receive an honorary doctor of humane letters.

Saltzman has worked with homeless families, ran AIDS education programs and was one of the founding board members of the Robin Hood Foundation, which has raised more than $1 billion to fight poverty in New York City. Saltzman was named one of Time magazine's 100 innovators.

For more information about Brown's honorary-degree recipients, visit: http://news.brown.edu/pressreleases/2009/04/honoraries

 Tags  Brown University

Comments

s. glusker said:

It would be nice to see photos of the people!

Good job!

Link | March 13, 2010 8:06 PM
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