Newswise — Nearly 1,000 Baldwin-Wallace College (Berea, Ohio) students in undergraduate and graduate programs will receive their degrees during the 157th commencement ceremonies, set for May 5 and 6, 2007.
"At Baldwin-Wallace we have drawn our undergraduate commencement speakers in recent years from our College community... usually a successful alumnus/alumna," said George Richard, director of college relations. "We believe--and our students agree-- that there is a special bond between the graduates of today, who are beginning the next stage of their lives, and this other B-W graduate, who sat in those same seats not that many years ago with all the same doubts, questions and anticipation." Continuing the tradition, the speaker for the undergraduate commencement at 2:30 p.m., May 6, in George Finnie Stadium will be Arthur "Bud" Collins, a 1951 graduate and an award-winning Boston Globe columnist, TV commentator, and member of the Tennis Hall of Fame. Rain site for the ceremony is Ursprung Gymnasium.
Collins is a writer and television personality whose knowledge of all things tennis is encyclopedic. Following graduate school at Boston University, he first joined the Boston Herald as a sportswriter, then moved to the Boston Globe in 1963. That same year he was the commentator for the U.S. Doubles for Boston's PBS station, WGBH. He covered tennis for CBS and then in 1972 went to NBC where he covered the Wimbledon and the French Open for many years. He became known as much for his colorful clothes as his colorful commentary.
He continued to write for the Boston Globe, not only on sports, but on a wide variety of subjects. He also writes for magazines in the U.S. and abroad and has a number of books to his credit including Bud Collins' Tennis Encyclopedia. In 1994, he was inducted into the Tennis Hall of Fame. He received an honorary Doctor of Letters from B-W in 1976.
Collins' father was a multi-sport coach and athletic director at B-W for whom the "Pop" Collins tennis courts were named. Bud Collins established the A.W. "Bud" Collins,Jr., Prize for Creative Writing at B-W, which is awarded annually to a graduating senior for their creative writing efforts over a period of time.
Ronald "Ronn" Richard, the president and CEO of The Cleveland Foundation, will address the graduate commencement on Saturday, May 5 at 1030 a.m. in Ursprung Gymnasium. Richard holds a master's degree in international relations from the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies and a bachelor's degree in history from Washington University in St. Louis.
He began his career at the non-profit Japan Society in New York as director of the national public affairs program. Later, he was a U.S. diplomat, serving at the American Consulate General in Osaka/Kobe, Japan and at the U.S. Department of State in Washington, D.C. as a desk officer for North Korean, Greek and Turkish affairs respectively.
After 13 years in a number of senior management positions at Panasonic, Richard joined In-Q-Tel, the CIA's venture capital fund, where he was the COO and managing partner.
Richard, who was named the executive director of The Cleveland Foundation in 2003, will receive an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from B-W during the ceremony.
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