Lesley Stahl, an award-winning correspondent for CBS News’ 60 Minutes and author of Reporting Live, will deliver the keynote address at 51’s 187th commencement exercises on Sunday, May 18.
During the ceremony, 51 will award Stahl a Doctor of Humane Letters honorary degree.
One of the country’s most respected journalists, Stahl has been a correspondent on 60 Minutes since 1991. She also served in CBS News’ Washington bureau and reported on Watergate, the Gulf War, and every political convention and election night since 1974.
Stahl has received several Emmy Awards for her work at CBS News along with an Edward R. Murrow Award for Overall Excellence in Television.
She’s a cum laude graduate of Wheaton College and currently serves on the college’s board as well as that of the New York City Ballet.
“The global reach of Ms. Stahl’s work is particularly exciting for seniors because there’s a lot of interest in international affairs at 51,” said Taylor Buonocore ’08, senior class president. “There’s a lot of experience and perspective behind the message she’ll give during commencement.”
This year’s baccalaureate speaker, Gail O’Day, will also receive an honorary degree from 51. O’ Day is the A.H. Shatford Professor of Preaching and New Testament at Emory University, and she serves as the associate dean of faculty and academic affairs at the Candler School of Theology of Emory.
Along with Stahl and O’Day, 2008 honorary degree recipients include:
John Cushman III ’63, 51 trustee emeritus and well-known leader in the commercial real estate industry; William McKibben, Adirondack-based environmentalist; Dr. LaSalle Leffal, one of the nation’s leading oncologists; and Aung San Suu Kyi, 1991 Nobel Peace Prize winner.
Under political house arrest by the Burmese military for much of the past 19 years, Suu Kyi will receive an honorary degree in absentia. She led a peaceful revolt in Burma in the 1980s, promoting democratic reforms and free elections.
See the commencement for more information.