April 28, 1998
Contact:
Carlos Chavez
213-259-2990
[email protected]
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
SCHOLAR AND HEAD OF PRESIDENT'S RACE INITIATIVE WILL ADDRESS GRADUATES; NOBEL LAUREATES AND HOUSING ACTIVIST HONORED WITH DOCTORATES
John Hope Franklin, a founding father of African-American history and the head of President ClintonÃs national advisory board on race, will deliver the keynote address and be awarded an honorary doctorate when Occidental College celebrates Commencement 1998 in the historic Remsen Bird Hillside Theater on Sunday, May 10, at 3 p.m.
Franklin, James B. Duke professor of history emeritus at Duke University, has been a pre-eminent scholar of Southern history for more than 40 years. He was appointed by President Clinton in June 1997 to head the seven-member task force called ìOne America in the 21st Century: The PresidentÃs Initiative on Race.î Franklin has served on many other national commissions and delegations, including the National Council for the Humanities and the Advisory Commission on Public Diplomacy.
Among his numerous books and publications, From Slavery to Freedom: A History of African Americans, published in 1947 and currently in its seventh edition, is considered to be the authoritative account of the black experience in America. In 1978, WhoÃs Who In America named Franklin as one of eight Americans who has made a significant contribution to society. He was elected to the Oklahoma Hall of Fame that same year.
An honorary doctor of humane letters degree will also be awarded to Sister Diane Donoghue, S.S.S., founder and executive director of Esperanza Community Housing Corporation, a vibrant and successful non-profit community-based organization that has helped to improve the Hoover/Adams neighborhood of South Central Los Angeles. Donoghue is a member of the Sisters of Social Services, a Roman Catholic community of women founded in Hungary in 1923 that is committed to social justice concerns, especially as they affect women and children. She is also a founding member of the South Central Organizing Committee and a board member of the Nehemiah West Housing Corporation.
F. Sherwood Rowland, Donald Bren research professor of chemistry at UC Irvine, will be awarded an honorary doctor of science degree. Rowland is the co-recipient of the 1995 Nobel Prize in chemistry for his work in atmospheric chemistry, which resulted in the finding that such common items as spray cans and air conditioners can harm the fragile ozone layer that protects the planet from the dangerous ultraviolet radiation from the sun.
Mario Jose Molina, who shared the Nobel Prize with Rowland and Paul Crutzen of the Max Planck Institute in Germany, will also receive an honorary doctorate. Molina is a professor of earth, atmospheric and planetary science and chemistry at MIT. After receiving the Nobel Prize, Molina donated $200,000 of his winnings to help scholars from developing nations conduct environmental research at MIT. Known for the interdisciplinary reach and the rigor of his research, Molina is the first native scientist of Mexico to win a Nobel Prize.
OccidentalÃs four honorary degree recipients will join 350 graduates and their friends and families in the May 10 celebration of the CollegeÃs continuing mission of excellence and equity and its 110-year history of outstanding scholarship.
Occidental College is a private, selective college of the liberal arts and sciences located in the Eagle Rock area of Northeast Los Angeles. For 1998, U.S. News & World Report ranks Occidental first in campus diversity and in the top quartile of national liberal arts colleges.
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