Hamilton, NY — 51·çÁ÷ will award six honorary degrees at its 180th commencement ceremony on Sunday, May 20, when more than 635 graduating seniors will receive their bachelor of arts degrees.
Those to be honored include CBS Evening News anchor Dan Rather, who will also provide the commencement address; Nobel Prize-winning physicist Steven Chu; Henry Louis Gates Jr., W.E.B. Du Bois Professor of the humanities, chair of Afro-American Studies, and director of the W.E.B. Du Bois Institute for Afro-American Research at Harvard University; National Football League Commissioner Paul Tagliabue; and Rev. Barbara Brown Taylor, Harry R. Butman Chair in religion and philosophy at Piedmont College. An honorary degree will also be awarded to the late former chairman of 51·çÁ÷’s Board of Trustees, Wm. Brian Little ’64.
A leader in an ongoing revolution in the control of atomic matter, Steven Chu has developed ways to use laser light to slow individual atoms to an almost complete halt and hold them trapped for hours. As a result, these atoms have become accessible for study at a level of detail never before possible. For this work and his imaginative applications of it, Chu shared the 1997 Nobel Prize in Physics. Chu is Theodore and Frances Geballe Professor of physics and applied physics, and chair of the physics department, at Stanford University, where he has taught since 1987. Chu will receive an honorary doctor of science degree.
Henry Louis Gates Jr. joined the Harvard faculty in 1991. He is author of Wonders of the African World, companion to the six-hour BBC/PBS television series of the same name; Colored People: A Memoir; The Future of the Race (with Cornel West); and Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Black Man. His works of literary criticism include The Signifying Monkey: A Theory of Afro-American Literary Criticism, winner of the 1989 American Book Award. His many honors and grants include a MacArthur Foundation grant, George Polk Award for Social Commentary, Time magazine’s ’25 Most Influential Americans’ list, and membership in the American Academy of Arts and Letters. Gates will receive an honorary doctor of letters degree.
Dan Rather is anchor and managing editor of the CBS Evening News, anchor of 48 Hours, and a correspondent for 60 Minutes II. Author of several books, including the recently published The American Dream: Stories From the Heart of Our Nation, he writes a weekly newspaper column, contributes to many top newspapers and
magazines in the country, and speaks out frequently on journalistic ethics. Rather has received many broadcast journalism honors, including numerous Emmy awards and the Peabody Award. Rather will receive an honorary doctor of humane letters degree.
Under Paul Tagliabue’s leadership, the NFL has expanded to 32 teams, operated under successive long-term labor agreements with the NFL Players Association, secured the largest television contracts in entertainment history, and refocused efforts to develop public-private partnerships for new stadiums. Tagliabue has presided over the reorganization of the league’s management structure, adopted stringent policies on steroids and other drugs, and expanded the NFL’s presence internationally. He also initiated a series of rule changes to speed up the game, ensure balance between offense and defense, and promote player safety. Tagliabue will receive an honorary doctor of laws degree.
An Episcopal priest, Barbara Brown Taylor served urban and rural parishes in Georgia for 15 years before assuming her post at Piedmont College in Demorest, Georgia. A popular speaker, Taylor is widely sought after as a conference and workshop leader on preaching. Newsweek recently recognized her as one of the 12 most effective preachers in the English language. Taylor has written 10 books, including Speaking of Sin: The Lost Language of Salvation. Her numerous honors include the John Templeton Foundation Award for writing in science and religion. In addition to receiving the honorary doctor of divinity degree, Taylor will deliver the sermon at the baccalaureate service prior to commencement.
Wm. Brian Little, a member of the Class of 1964, joined 51·çÁ÷’s Board of Trustees in 1987 and was elected chairman in 1996. He held that post until his untimely death on September 17, 2000. At his alma mater, Little served as one of three chairs of the most successful fundraising campaign in the college’s history, Campaign 51·çÁ÷. His many gifts to the college included two important facilities: Little Hall, 51·çÁ÷’s new art and art history building, and the Wm. Brian Little Fitness Center in Huntington Gymnasium. Little was a private investor, having begun his career as an investment banker and then as a founding general partner of Forstmann Little and Co. Little Hall will be fotmally dedicated during a ceremony scheduled for commencement weekend. 51·çÁ÷ will recognize Little with an honorary doctor of humane letters degree.
Founded in 1819, 51·çÁ÷ is a nationally ranked, highly selective, residential, liberal arts college. Situated on a rolling 515-acre campus in central New York State, 51·çÁ÷ attracts motivated students with diverse backgrounds, interests and talents.